The End Of Forever
by His Gem
Summary: Damon promised her forever, but Elena doesn't remember that. When given the option of choosing forever or a normal, human life... What will Elena's decision be? Hidden family secrets reveled. A wedding, a death (or ten) a return, and a farewell... Alternate ending to season six and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

Ok folks, we're going to jump into this quickly. I've been a fan of The Vampire Diaries since 1994. The writers acting as if Elena isn't the main character has pissed me off SO much, that I am going to FIX this.

I hope you enjoy my attempt.

I do not own The Vampire Diaries. (But I do own a lot of Vampire Diaries THINGS lol)

Chapter 1

"Well, Matt lives to hate vampires another day."

Elena's head popped up from staring at the gravel below. She smiled softly as Damon approaches, a defeated look on his face. "Stefan's on Caroline duty," He continued. "And I just introduced Mom to Uber." He stopped directly in front of her and looks down with a sardonic grin. "I'm taking bets on which one goes south first."

Elena takes a deep breath before responding, unable to look him in the eye. She didn't want to seem uncaring of what he'd just said, but her thoughts were heading in a completely different direction. She wanted to take Jo's earlier advice and actually TALK to Damon about what was bothering her. That's what people in normal, healthy relationships did, right? So she ignored his comments and jumped right in, before she could chicken out. "I want to throw Jo a baby shower."

"Wow," Damon muses, nodding slightly. "Forgot to hit your turn signal for that segway." He smiles down at her.

"Jo's pregnancy is the best news we've had in a little while and… I feel like I didn't react the way that I should have." She says embarrassed. He wasn't yelling at her, that was a good start. Maybe they could have a normal conversation after all.

"Why not?" Damon asks, moving forward and taking the seat next to her on the bench. He watches her look off into the distance, the lights from Skull Bar's sign making her face glow.

She glances over at him. "Because, I think I was…" She struggles for words "I don't know…"

"Jealous?" Damon suggests.

"Yeah." She admits apologetically. "A little. I figured I'd always wanted a family. Before… you know." She smiles and rolls her eyes, not able to bring herself to say any more on the subject. "So it's kind of a bummer of a reminder that, that's never gonna happen for me."

Damon remains silent, not knowing what to say.

"But," Elena smiles at him reassuringly and leans her head gently on his shoulder. "I get to have my life with you, which is also what I've always wanted." She glances up at him, noticing that he seems so lost. She really hadn't meant to upset him. This was probably a bad idea. "So I'll be good, okay? I just had to let myself be sad for a minute."

"What if things could be different?" Damon asks. "And you can change everything."

"I don't know… I can't. Nothing's changed." Definitely a bad idea, she thinks to herself, imagining slamming her head against a brick wall. After their earlier conversation about his mother admitting to not thinking about coming back for him, she probably should have waited a little while to bring up something so serious. Although he would NEVER admit it, she knew he had abandonment issues and a somewhat low self esteem.

There's a long stretch of silence until Damon finally kisses her forehead. "I love you."

Elena smiles and cuddles closer, lifting her face to meet his. This time her smile is bright, her attempt at showing him that not having the ability to have his children was in no way going to affect the life she wanted to have with him, and ONLY him. "I love you too." She raises herself up to kiss him gently on his lips.

As they part, Damon takes a deep breath and meets her eyes headon. "I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?" Elena asks quizzically.

He smiles. "It's a surprise."

* * *

Tyler storms into his house, slamming the door angrily behind him. After leaving the hospital he roamed around campus not knowing where to go or who to talk to. Matt was the only one who would possibly understand what he was going through and he had a strong feeling that he wasn't in the talking mood at the moment. Everyone else was either dead, evil or just missing in action.

He wanted to punch something, but refrained, making his way over to the drink cart in the front sitting room. He quickly pours himself a shot of vodka and dumps it down his throat. He goes to pour himself another shot but quickly realizes that he shouldn't even bother as he leaves it on the marble and moves toward the couch, bottle in hand.

Flopping down he takes a swig and stares at his ceiling.

He hears the door click and slowly creek open.

"Tyler?"

He pops off the couch and backs up, staring shocked as Caroline stands in the entryway, covered in blood and… are those tears?

"What the hell do you want? Haven't you tortured me enough for today?" He exclaims, tossing the bottle toward her. It crashes at her feet and she steps over it to move closer.

Her arms are tightly wrapped around her midsection as if she's trying to hold herself together. "I'm so, so sorry!" She cries, her eyes blinking away the tears that continue to fall down her cheeks. He watches as a drop of blood drips from her chin onto the floor. She'd obviously stopped for a few snacks in between the bar and his house.

"I kept tearing through people, and I didn't care… and then I let myself think about what happened with Matt and I shouldn't have let myself DO that." She whole body shakes as she steps closer. This time he doesn't move away. "Is he going to be okay? Did you get him to the hospital on time?" He remains silent, shocked at the turn of events. What a day….

When he doesn't answer quickly enough she becomes frantic. "Tyler! Please, please, tell me he's going to be okay? Would the Gilbert ring even work on him if it was you that killed him? You're not really supernatural anymore, but you have the werewolf gene so that SHOULD count for something right? RIGHT?"

He moves quickly around the side of the couch to stand right in front of her, still unsure. "We got him to the hospital. Elena tried to give him some blood but he refused it." Her eyes widened in shock. He reached out and touched her shoulder to reassure her. "I left, but Elena called me later to tell me that he's going to make it. I just don't think he's going to want to have anything to do with any of us for a little while. She said he seemed pretty upset. "

Caroline stared at his hand on her shoulder, her eyes soft. She reaches up to hold it, smudging some blood onto his knuckles.

A look of disappointment crosses her face as she tightens her grip on his hand. Her eyes are no longer soft and kind. "That's a real shame. Luckily I came with a plan B."

Tyler struggles, but he's not stronger than her as a human. "Caroline, get the hell off of me, right now."

Her head tilts to the side and she smiles evilly. "Are you going to make me? I was stronger than you even when you were a werewolf. I brought you a gift."

Yanking his hand, she guides him out the door and onto the porch. A girl around the age of fifteen sits on his porch swing, the tips of her blonde hair dyed red with blood and shaking in terror.

Caroline turns him so he's facing her again. Her eyes dilate and he can't help it, he just can't turn his head away.

"You're going to walk over to her, kiss her and then choke her to death." She pushes him toward the girl and he lands on his knees in front of her.

"Please, please don't do this!" She begs. "Please don't listen to her. Why are you doing this to me?" She frantically tries to leave the seat but it's like she's glued to the spot.

Tyler leans toward her wrapping his hands around her neck. "I'm so sorry," he whispers. "I'm trying to stop but I just can't." He pulls her face towards his and devours her lips with his own, tightening his grip on her neck until his hands reach all the way around. He can feel her try to gasp out a scream, but it doesn't make much of a sound as he's kissing her.

They both struggle, him kissing, her dying, but it's no use. His hands slip occasionally, because of the blood coating her throat, clearly Caroline had used her briefly as a snack. After a few minutes, he can feel that she's not breathing into his mouth anymore, and the pulsing against his hands through her arteries has stopped. She dangles limply from his grasp.

Behind him, he can hear Caroline start to clap slowly. He drops the girl and she slides down from the swing and onto the porch. Tyler keeps checking for a pulse even though he knows it's been long gone.

"Bravo Tyler, that was SEXY!" Caroline says happily. He turns around to look at her, still in shock. "Oh come on, you'll thank me for this later, really. Were you really going to spend your life as a stupid police officer, trying to follow in my mother's footsteps. She died and it wasn't in a blaze of glory like most cops, she died sick and in bed. I'm really just saving you from a life of boredom"

Caroline walks down his front steps calmly, throwing her hand up behind her in a quick wave. "Have fun wolf boy!"

* * *

"Why did you bring me here?" Elena said, as they pulled up to a small lake with a quaint, lit up bridge. "Is this somewhere we've been before?" He didn't say anything, only nodded as he jumped out of the drivers side and sped around to her car door to help her out.

The night was quiet and no one else was around, the stars danced happily above in the night sky. She had to admit, the place was beautiful.

"Do you remember what I told you about my favorite night?" Damon asked, taking her hand and leading her out toward the lake. There was another small footbridge, and he stopped.

She grinned. "I recall you saying that and then telling me it was a complete disaster when it started to rain. But I always suspected you were lying about the complete disaster part." She said excitedly. He was finally going to tell her the truth about that night!

"We were standing right here, when it started pouring. You told me you wanted to stay and that it would probably clear up any minute." He said, seeming to be stuck in the moment. "When it didn't, you just smiled at me and asked me to promise you forever."

He took both her hands in his firm grip. "I did. I promised you forever that night."

Elena looked at him sadly. "Damon, I am so sorry that I wiped everything away. I wish more than anything that I could remember."

He smiled down at her sadly. "I know you do."

He took a deep breath and braced himself. "I promised you forever that night Elena. And I love you, so right now, I'm giving you the choice. It doesn't have to be forever anymore. You can have the life you've always wanted." He reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a wooden box. "Bonnie gave me this yesterday. When she found the map she saw that I'd already made notes on it. I was planning on going there myself to get this for you. So when she went to get the magic from Silas, she also brought back the cure."

Elena stepped back, shocked. This was the most selfless…

Her thoughts went blank for a moment. She could tell that he was still talking but she couldn't hear him.

Instead, she heard her own voice in her head.

"_It was my birthday. Damon and I spent the whole summer looking for Stefan. And I was trying to put on a good face because Caroline was throwing this party for me, but I was so, so sad. I was two seconds from deciding that I wasn't going to go. I wasn't going to leave the room. Until Damon walked in. He gave me a birthday gift. It was a necklace that Stefan had given me. I'd lost it. And Damon knew what the necklace meant to me. What it meant, about my feelings for Stefan. Even though he loved me….He gave me the one thing that represented hope for me and his brother. I knew how much it hurt him. But he did it. It was… the most selfless that he's ever been. And in that moment… I loved him. I didn't WANT to, it terrified me. But for that moment, I loved him." _

"Elena?" Damon's voice broke through the haze, she looked up at him in confusion. "You alright there? I'm trying to do the right thing here and you're spacing out." He tried to make light of the situation, but the concern showed through his eyes.

Elena tried to shake away the new memories that were all trying to enter her mind at once, she blinked up at him. She tried to speak. "Damon, I think I-"

Before she could finish, her world blanked out and the last thing she felt was his arms wrap tightly around her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you guys so much for all the favorites, follows and reviews! If you review as a guest, I can't respond, I'm sorry! **

**On a personal note, I'd like to say that I hated last episode. I don't know if it's because we KNOW she's leaving so I'm just viewing everything as crap now or if it was just... not good. What are your thoughts? I just hate how in the episode before she says "We have forever!" and then last episode she basically throws that out the window. I don't like Ian Somerhalder as a person, but I love Damon Salvatore and I feel like these 6 seasons have been the "Let's Screw Over Damon Salvatore" show. It's frustrating. **

**Anyway, on with the story. I PLAN on updating every Wed or Thusday, so that it comes out before TVD. Then after it ends (ENDS for me, because I won't be watching season 7) every Thursday. **

**I'm not sure yet how long it will be yet, definitely over 20 chapters thought, because that's how long my outline is and I've already thought of a lot of things to add in. Also, I don't have a beta, so all these mistakes are my own and I'm sorry!**

**I do not own TVD (but my husband just bought me a Mystic Falls Timberwolves hoodie and I LOVE IT!)**

**Happy Reading!**

**The End Of Forever - Chapter 2**

"Dammit Elena." Damon sighed, scooping her up. Her body hung limp in his arms, her head lolling about. Sighing, he made his way back over to the camaro and, after a little adjusting, was able to open up the door and get her buckled into the passenger seat.

He pulled his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and dialed, leaning his head against the cold top of the car. "Try to do something nice for a change and it blows up in your face…" He muttered, anxiously waiting for the ringing to stop and for someone to answer.

"Damon! Are you going to be making a habit of calling me all the time now? Because this is just weird!" Bonnie laughed into his ear.

"Ha ha witchy. No… I've got some problems." He groaned. "Elena's unconscious."

Bonnie's laughter cut short. "What happened?"

"I brought her out to the spot I was telling you about, and I told her about the cure. She started mumbling something about her birthday and I couldn't understand any of it, and then she just collapsed." Damon answered, forcing himself away from the car and speeding over to the drivers side.

She started laughing again. "Oh Damon, she probably just passed out from shock. You freaked her out by being so nice."

"Bonnie, this isn't funny. Vampire's don't just pass out for no reason. Now please put yourself to some use and try to find out if this is some weird spell or doppelganger curse." He twisted his keys into the ignition and his car started. Barely waiting a moment to make sure it didn't stall, after all, it WAS Stefan that put the thing back together and who KNOWS what kind of work he did on it, he shifted into first and stomped on the gas.

"Alright, I'll look into it. I don't know much about the doppelgangers or any kind of other curses that we haven't already come across but I'll check it out. Is Stefan back to being normal Stefan?" He could hear her moving around her house, shuffling things around.

"As of a few hours ago, yes. I sent him after Caroline to see if he could switch her back on."

He could practically hear her nodding on the other end. "Good, good. I'll call him and see if he's feeling anything strange. If it's something having to do with the doppelgangers, then it would be affecting the both of them. I'm going to get some things together and I'll meet you back at the boarding house in a few."

"Thank you." He whispered, even though she'd already hung up the phone. He glanced over and started at Elena, her head bouncing every time they went over a slight bump. If they had to deal with any more of this traveler crap, he was going to flip. The Caroline drama was enough to deal with at the moment.

Was it too much to ask for to just have a moment of peace? His thoughts flashed back to the summer before and how great it was before he shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts. No point in dwelling on the past now.

Switching his attention back to the road, he hit his speed dial and called Ric. Hopefully he was with Jo, and she may have some answers to if anything out of the normal had happened with Elena during the day, beside the whole "I'm having a baby!" announcement.

Ric picked up on the third ring. "Did your girlfriend notice anything out of the ordinary with Elena today?" Damon jumped right to the point.

'Hello to you too, buddy!" Ric greeted mockingly. "I have no idea, why didn't you just call her and ask?"

"Because I don't have her number jackass. Just ask her, I can hear her in the background!" Damon exclaimed. He made a sharp right, glad to be almost home.

He heard him relay the question on to Jo, and she came onto the phone in his place. "Damon? Nothing really crazy happened today. I'm sure you know about Matt though. She went into his room after he was out of surgery and she seemed upset after she came out, but nothing too serious. Is everything okay?"

"To make a long story short, I have the cure for vampire-ism and I offered it to her and then she passed out. Vampires DON'T pass out, so I'm taking her back to the boarding house and I'm going to try to figure out what the hell happened."

He heard Jo tell Ric what was going on and he rolled his eyes. Couldn't they have just put him on speaker phone?

"Damon, what exactly did you say to her when you offered her that cure?" Ric asked.

"I don't remember! A bunch of heartfelt stuff blah blah blah. Why?" Damon inquired, pulling up as close to the front door as possible. Since he had no answers, there was no actual rush so he sat there waiting for Ric's reply.

"I have a theory, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. I'll meet you at the house in a bit." Without even waiting for a reply, he hung up the phone.

He got out and made his way over to Elena's side, gingerly scooping her up and speeding her up to their bedroom. No one was there yet, not even Stefan, so he decided to take his time and change her into some comfortable pajamas before tucking her comfortably under the blankets. He sat next to her on the bed and stroked her cheek softly with the back of his hand.

Downstairs, the front door slammed and he quickly jumped up, running down the stairs to see Stefan and Bonnie standing in the foyer. Stefan was holding Bonnie's book bag that looked to weigh a ton. "So I see you're feeling alright?" Damon questioned, ushering them into the sitting room. He grabbed the bag from Stefan and poured the contents onto the coffee table.

"I feel fine." Stefan said. "I couldn't find Caroline, so when Bonnie called I met her at her house and we came as soon as we could." Stefan's eyes flicked to the ceiling. "Is she still unconscious?"

"Yeah." Damon replied, sitting on the couch and grabbing a book. Bonnie sat to his right and grabbed a book also. "Ric is on his way. He said he might have a theory as to what happened, but I don't know what he could tell us that we don't already know."

"Maybe he did some research on travelers and doppelgangers while we were stuck in 1994?" Bonnie suggested.

Damon shrugged. It could be possible.

After about 20 minutes of the three of them digging, the front door opened again and Ric walked in, Jo following behind him. Damon stood to greet them. "Should you be out in your delicate condition?" Damon asked, bending to give Jo a quick kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations." He whispered softly in her ear.

Jo laughed. "This isn't the 1900's. I'm perfectly capable of doing normal, everyday things for my entire pregnancy."

Damon slapped Ric on the back. Though he was a little jealous, and worried about Elena, that didn't stop him from being happy for his friend.

Bonnie's head snapped up. "You're pregnant? Congratulations!" She stood from the couch and walked over to Jo, giving her an awkward hug. They'd only met once or twice before but each had heard a lot about the other. Over Jo's shoulder, Bonnie gave Damon a sympathetic smile. Now she knew why he told Elena about the cure.

Turning to Damon, Alaric shrugged sheepishly and then got down to business. "Damon, I want to tell you something that might be a little private, so we should probably go somewhere else." His eyes drifted over to Stefan slightly and Damon got the point. They silently made their way across the boarding house and settled into the library. Damon poured them each a generous amount of bourbon and he handed it to Ric before leaning against the bookshelves to wait for Ric to start talking.

Ric started at the liquid for a moment before beginning. "When you were gone, Elena did not handle it well. We thought she did, but we should have noticed that something was off. It turns out that she was getting some witchy herbs from Luke that would make her hallucinate you. None of us had any idea. I should have checked in on her more but I was dealing with things of my own. I was just learning how to function as a vampire and I wasn't handling that well myself. I couldn't think of anything other than that. To all of us, she seemed okay. I thought maybe she was so used to dealing with losing people, that she'd gotten over it. I'm very sorry for that."

Damon poured the entire glass of bourbon down his throat, trying to calm down. He had to try and keep himself in check. Ric didn't wear the Gilbert ring anymore, so he couldn't just snap his neck whenever the guy pissed him off. "Okay, she wasn't dealing, I get it. What does that have to do with right now?"

"Well, after Caroline found out about the drugs, she convinced her to stop. It was making Elena go crazy and it would make her so thirsty that she would attack random people on the streets. I'm not sure if she killed any, Caroline never said. So to stop that, she came to me and she asked me to help her forget that she was ever in love with you."

Ric stood to refill his glass. "I started with some hypnotherapy. We went through every memory that she ever had of you and I changed it. She met you one the street, but you were a stranger, and it meant nothing. You didn't step forward to dance with her at the Mystic Falls pageant, she was stood up and embarrassed. Everything. And yet, we she still couldn't forget that she loved you." Ric laughed. "I had to call Caroline to see if she had any ideas and she brought up the biggest thing that Elena couldn't admit to. That she fell in love with you when she was still with Stefan."

"Elena finally admitted it to me."

Damon held his breath. His best friend knew when the exact moment was that Elena fell in love with him. Was he ready to know this information? Though it would be nice to know, he still didn't see what it had to do with the present situation.

"She fell in love with you on her eighteenth birthday Damon." Ric stopped wanting to give Damon a few moments to let that sink in.

Damon moved to sit in the closest armchair available, at a loss for words. He shook his head. "All that time wasted…" He muttered.

Alaric shrugged. "She wasn't ready yet Damon. That's beside the point. What she told me is that when you gave her that necklace, she realized that it was the most selfless thing that you had ever done. And you had done it because you loved her and wanted her to be happy." Ric moved forward and took a seat on the coffee table, so that he was directly in front of Damon. "Tonight, you offered her that cure, even though it killed you to do it. Because you wanted her to be happy. You were completely selfless. I think that may have triggered something. You said she mumbled something about her birthday right?" Damon nodded, unable to form any words. "I think that she passed out because she's processing her memories."

Leaning back in the chair, Damon was shocked. After Ric had turned back into a human and the border to Mystic Falls had turned back into a Magic zone, he'd never really considered the possibility that Elena would get her memories back. He loved her anyway, memories or not. He was just lucky that she'd given him a chance while thinking that she hated him.

Ric patted him on the knee, getting up. "Maybe you want to get upstairs and wait for her to wake up? If I'm right, it would be nice if you were there with her when she woke up. I'll tell the others to keep looking through Bonnie's books in the mean time."

Nodding, Damon stood too. "Thank you, for telling me that." He said softly.

Ric smiled. "No problem, it's the least I could do after wiping her memories. I should have told you sooner, but things have been crazy and it's not like we've had a lot of time to talk."

"Hey, before I run up there...Did you happen to do any digging into the travelers or doppelgangers while I was gone? Just in case this is something having to do with that? It might be a good idea to know, for Elena and Stefan's case, if anything were to happen in the future. Marcos said that the travelers in Mystic Falls weren't the only ones." Damon asked, setting his glass on the coffee table.

"There wasn't much that I was able to find, but you're right. We should do more digging. I'll see what I can do." Ric assured. Damon nodded and without another word, left the room, slowly making his way up toward his bedroom.

The house was silent, all but for the turning of pages and the ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. Damon stood outside his bedroom door, nervous to enter. What would it mean, if Elena did regain all of her memories? Would she decline the cure, like she did last time? Would she be content living an eternal life with him?

He slowly pushed his door open and entered the room, watching as Elena stirred, turning her head slightly on the pillows. As he reached her, her eyes blinked open. Confusion clouded her vision at first, before her eyes landed on him and she smiled softly up at him. She lifted her hand, reaching out for him and he took it, sitting next to her again.

Elena yawned sleepily and pulled his arm so that she was cuddling it against her chest. "I'm tired." She said.

"So go back to sleep." Damon suggested, smiling down at her.

"Okay!" She rolled over, taking his arm with her and he was forced to lay down next to her. "I missed you." She mumbled into his shoulder.

He laughed. "You were the one who was sleeping."

"Ugh," she said, looking up into his eyes. "No, I mean…." Confusion clouded her eyes. "When you were gone…"

She jumped into a sitting position, getting tangled in the sheets. "Oh my God, Damon." She looked at him shocked. "I remember." She jumped on top of him, squeezing him. "I'm so so so sorry!" He could feel her tears instantly, dripping from her eyes onto the side of his neck.

"Baby, it's okay." He soothed, running his hands through her hair. She didn't respond, only sobbed. He rocked her as if she was a baby. "I'm here now, it's okay."

"I should have known that you would come back to me, and I just gave up. I'm so sorry." She whispered, kissing the side of his neck.

She sat up on his chest and tried to wipe at her still tearing eyes. "I can't believe you're here."

Damon grinned and put his hands behind his head, relaxing against the pillows. "It takes more than death to get rid of me!" He exclaimed cockilly.

Elena gently slapped his chest, grinning from ear to ear. "You're stupid, but I still missed you."

Her brows wrinkled. "You offered me the cure. Again."

Damon stiffened. "Of course I did. When we were stuck in 1994 I'd planned on getting it for you, that's why Nova Scotia was already circled on that map. When Bonnie found it, she knew what I'd planned and she got it. She gave it to me the other day, to do what I wanted with it. I want you to be happy Elena. That's the only thing that matters to me."

Elena huffed. "One, I can't believe Bonnie and you are buddy buddy now. That's just weird. And two… we've talked about this before. I want forever with you. The only reason I would want to be human is to be human with YOU. There's only one cure, so it's just not going to happen." She smiled at him brightly. "I would love nothing more than to grow old with you and have your children. I don't want that life with anyone else."

He smiled at her confession, grabbing her hands and flipping them over so that he was on top. Her laugh rang out as her head hit the pillows.

"Well, I had an idea about that." He said.

Elena shook her head. "Damon, after last time, I'm not really too sure if I want to trust any of your IDEAS."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Just listen. Mother dearest was stuck in 1903. There is a cure there too. If we go back there, and grab it, then we'll have a cure for the both of us. It will take some time since there's no cars to steal and no horses to ride since she killed them all, but I'm fairly certain that we could make it."

She stared up at him in wonder. "You would be human with me?"

Damon grinned. "I'd be whatever you want me to be."

Elena surged forward and kissed him. "Damon, I want to grow old with you as a human and I want to have a family with you." Her smile blinded him. "Let's do it."

* * *

What are your thoughts/theory's as to how the show is going to pan out? Are you going to watch season 7 without Elena Gilbert? Are you as pissed off as I am? Let me know! Leave a review or hit me up on twitter (I rant a lot on there, so be prepared... ) You can find men there HisGem

Hope to hear from you!


	3. Chapter 3

**So, I actually enjoyed the last episode, even though it made me incredibly sad at the exact same time. How dare they make it so good before they ruin it?**

**Dropping a little bombshell here. Just to make you guys aware, I'm going to be changing a LOT of history so, I hope you enjoy.**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 3**

Damon groaned into Elena's hair, holding her close. "We should probably go downstairs and let the scooby gang know that you're alright."

Elena's head popped up. "Everyone's here?"

He laughed, rolling off the bed with her still in his arms. "Not EVERYONE everyone. You passed out and I called in reinforcements. I didn't know what was wrong with you. Ric took me aside to let me know that he thought you may have gotten your memories back, but he wasn't sure." Before opening the bedroom door, he leaned her against it. "He ALSO happened to mention a little stint with drugs and hallucinating, that we are going to have a conversation about later."

Elena's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Do we have to? Can't I just admit that I'm stupid and we'll call it a day?" She asked him hopefully.

"Nope."

Elena pouted.

He reached over with one hand and opened the door, not willing to let go of her, then slowly made his way downstairs into the sitting room. Bonnie and Jo sat on the couch, quietly chatting, while Ric and Stefan stood by the bar, silently downing their own drinks. Everything stopped what they were doing and looked up once they entered.

Ric was the first to break the silence. "You okay kid?"

Elena untangled herself from Damon's arms and sped over to Ric, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I'm better than ever. I'm sorry, it was unfair of me to ask you to do that."

He pushed her away slightly so he could look into her eyes. A small smile graced his face. "So I was right? You do remember." She nodded. "Oh thank God. I thought I was going to have to hear Damon complain about that for the rest of my life!" He exclaimed.

Elena laughed, slapping him on the arm. "You might not have to hear about that, but you will have to hear me complain about spilling the beans on my little herb problem." She whispered to him disapprovingly.

Alaric chuckled and held up both his hands. "Hey, not my problem junkie." Everyone in the room had a good laugh, breaking the tension.

Elena peaked up toward Stefan. "Are YOU okay?" She asked curiously.

Stefan placed his empty glass on the bar and nodded. "I will be. Now that I know you're okay, I'm going to try to find Caroline again." He leaned over and kissed her softly on her forehead. Then, making his way over to Damon, gave his shoulder a pat. "Any idea where mother went off to?"

Shrugging, Damon took Stefan's place over by the bar. "I'm not her keeper. I showed her how to use a car, so hopefully she'll remember how to get back here. Otherwise, she'll have to remember how the nifty phone I gave her works so I can go pick her up." He poured himself a generous amount of bourbon while watching Elena make her way over to the girls on the couch.

Taking a seat between Bonnie and Jo, Elena turned to address the older woman. "I'd like to throw you a baby shower."

Jo laughed. "Oh please don't! You can help me plan for this wedding though. We're not doing anything big, just planning on going to the justice of the peace and sorting things out there, maybe next weekend."

Elena sat back, shocked. "So quickly? Is that what you both really want?"

Jo scrunched her nose up. "Is it vain of me to say that I don't want to look like a beached whale at my wedding?"

Shaking her head, Elena laughed. She was just so happy. She glanced over at Damon and lifted an eyebrow. He nodded, seeming to read her mind. "Jo, it would be our honor to host your wedding here at the boarding house. Please let us do this for you. You can invite as many people as you want, just let me know a few days before hand that way I can plan a little better." She offered.

"Oh my God, I can't ask you to do that! It's too much work." Jo said, eyes wide.

Damon stepped forward, sending a quick look over to Ric. "We would really be honored if you would let us do this for you. It's really the least we could do for all the trouble we've caused in the last few months. I'm pretty sure that Zack used to host weddings here in the past, so we'll have plenty of things in storage for the occasion."

"If you're sure…" Jo started.

"We're sure." Elena chimed in. She leaned over to give her a warm hug. "It will be a lot of fun."

* * *

Damon's nose itched as he suppressed another sneeze. The storage area closest to Stefan's room was just one giant dust ball. He moved several more boxes of wedding odds and ends closer to the door.

Why was he doing this again?

Oh yeah, that's right, because he was whipped. One tiny smile from Elena and he's volunteering to host an entire wedding at his house. Letting other people invade his personal space and make a mess of his usually very clean house, drink his liquor. He was sure one or two of the guests would carelessly dump whatever it was they were eating or drinking on his rugs. Or knock over an irreplaceable antique.

He shuddered.

Maybe he could convince Elena that an outside wedding would be more romantic.

Scratch that, outside wedding's weren't romantic.

He went to move another box over to the door when he stopped short, surprised to see Lily standing in the doorway.

"Hello Damon." She said softly stepping toward him.

"Hello Mother, glad to see you found your way back. I was afraid we'd have to call the sheriff... oh wait..." He muttered, moving to the side and setting the box down. "What can I do for you?" He still hadn't forgotten their conversation from earlier. It was stupid of him to think even for a moment that she'd been coming back to America for them. He wondered why the thought had even crossed his mind in the first place. Hadn't he learned his lesson the first time with Katherine?

God, was that only a few hours ago?

He felt like this day had lasted forever.

"Elena told me that you'll be hosting a wedding for your friends. That's very kind of you." Lily said, twisting her hands together in front of her.

"That's me," Damon smiled crookedly. "Always offering to be of service. I'm known around these parts for all my charity work."

Lily laughed softly. "I'd wondered if this was making you give any thought to having a wedding of your own."

Damon's breath caught in his throat. He'd been expecting her to come and bother him about getting her family back, not having a chat about his relationship with Elena. "I don't see why that would be any of your business." He muttered, moving back to the boxes in the far corner of the room.

Lily followed him. "I know it isn't really. But in case you were thinking of it, it would mean a lot to me if I could give you my ring. To give to her, if you so choose."

Damon laughed darkly. "Oh, but father already saw to it that Stefan was given your wedding rings. The day after you were buried he gifted them to him." He was trying SO hard to not break something.

He heard her sigh behind him. "Damon I am very sorry about the way your Giuseppe treated you and I wish there was something I could have done to shield you from him. There wasn't anything I could do in those days against that. But those aren't the rings that I am talking about and I would really like it if you could listen to me for a few minutes. There are a few things I think you deserve to know."

Damon turned around to face her and saw how apologetic she looked. He watched as she slowly pulled on a chain from around her neck until what was on it popped out from under her shirt. She lifted the chain over her head and held it up so he could see the ring dangling from it. "My marriage to Giuseppe was an arranged one. I was from a reputable founding family a town over, in Fells Church. Our parents had arranged for us to marry for a very long time. I was not in love with him. I saw him as old and cruel. I saw the way he treated others including his slaves and I did not want to be a part of it."

"I was already in love with someone. A boy, only a little older than I was. He worked with the horses in our stable. We'd planned to run away and get married. He gave me this ring." She stared down at it lovingly. "The night we planned on running though, Giuseppe found out and stopped us. He ran my lover through with a sword and told me that we would be married in the morning, and that if he somehow survived, the next time he saw him, he would kill him."

Damon stared at her, not knowing what to say.

"I had a friend at the time...I knew he was a vampire. I ran to him for help. And he did. He fed my lover his blood and, at my request, compelled him to be on the next ship overseas. That was the last time I saw him. And Giuseppe was true to his word. We were quickly married the next morning." Lily sighed sadly and held the ring out to Damon. "I asked my friend to also compel me, to make me forget my love and to help me fall in love with Giuseppe. Of course, that didn't change the fact that only a few weeks later, I learned that I was pregnant."

Damon took the ring from her, her words not registering right away. He blinked, finally realizing what she was saying. "Giuseppe wasn't my father?"

Lily nodded. "Giuseppe must have known, but he never said anything. I didn't remember until my memories returned upon awaking as a vampire." She shook her head sadly. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to tell you this until now. I'm sure it was the reason for so much friction between the two of you. I didn't even realize..."

"Leave." Damon said simply, clutching the ring tightly in his hand.

"Damon, please-"

"I want to be alone right now mother."

She nodded and backed out of the room quickly, whispering a quick "I'm sorry" as she left.

* * *

Elena slammed her head against the kitchen table.

"Why did I think this was going to be a lot of fun?" She said out loud to the empty room. She had her laptop open in front of her and she'd been scrolling through her pinterest account for hours.

It was a week later, and three days until the wedding. While they'd gotten a lot of it sorted, Damon HAD found boxes upon boxes of wedding decorations and serving platters, there was still a lot to do. She wanted to ask him for help, but he'd seemed very distracted recently so she didn't want to bother him anymore than she had to.

Jo had given her the guest list the day before, which was only about 60 people, but Elena wanted it to be perfect.

Which is why she was having such a hard time.

As she scrolled down the never-ending page of "Wedding Ideas," she grew increasingly frustrated. She heard Bonnie enter the room behind her. She'd walked out earlier needing a break from the wedding planning after a few hours.

She turned to her, exasperated. "Everything on here is suggesting we give them a barnyard wedding! Who the hell wants a barnyard wedding?"

Bonnie shrugged, taking the seat next to her. "People who want to step in cow poop all day?"

Elena laughed and closed the laptop. "When I marry Damon, I don't want anything huge or anything, it's not like we have a lot of family members to invite. But I'd like to think we'd do something at least a little classy. He looks so good in a suit, it would be a shame to let that go to waste you know?"

Bonnie slammed her hand down on the table. "Elena Gilbert! Is there something that you have been keeping from me!?" She reached down and grabbed Elena's left hand but frowned when she saw nothing on her fingers.

"What? OH!" Elena blushed. "No, nothing like that. Maybe someday? I don't really know what his thoughts on marriage are. But we have promised each other to be together forever. And… we may have both decided to become human together."

Dropping Elena's hand, Bonnie whistled. "Wow, that's a big step. How are you planning on working that out? Isn't the cure only for one person?"

"Well, we haven't really worked out the logistics of it and we haven't really spoken about it since the night I got my memories back. We've been too busy trying to get this wedding together. But…" Elena's voice drifted off. She'd wanted to have this conversation a little differently, seeing as she didn't know how Bonnie would react to the request. She wanted to have the entire plan worked out before bringing it up. "We were hoping to go back and get the other cure from the 1903 prison world."

"Elena…." Bonnie groaned. "Ugh, you know I don't want to go back there."

"I know Bonnie, but it would really mean so much to us and then we'll never have to ask for anything supernatural again, since we'll both be human!" Elena assured.

"Somehow I doubt that..." Bonnie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Can I think about this?"

Elena nodded. "Of course. Take your time. I know it's a big favor to ask. And I DO want to thank you for bringing the cure back in the first place. I told Damon that there was no way I was going to become human again without him so it's either none or the both of us."

They sat in silence for a moment.

Elena shrugged. "Or we can just shove it down Caroline's throat and call it a day!"

They both laughed.

Sighing, Elena glanced over to the closed laptop. "Speaking of Caroline…" She reached over to her cell phone and quickly dialed her former best friend, wondering if she would even bother to pick up the phone.

"What do you want?" Caroline asked from the other end.

Elena, shocked that she'd picked up so quickly, was at a loss for words for a moment. "I haven't got all day Elena." Caroline prompted.

"I'm sorry. Don't hang up. I need your help." Elena stated, glancing over to Bonnie. Bonnie, in turn, rolled her eyes.

"I'm not exactly in the helping mood at the moment." Caroline answered. Elena could hear some shuffling on the other end and hoped that she hadn't interrupted any afternoon snack. Although, if she had, she hoped the person got away…

"We're trying to plan Jo and Alaric's wedding and having a hard time. We have three days and so far we have nothing. I figured who better to call than you?" Elena didn't want to beg, but she was so desperate that she was considering it.

"Oh! Is that all?" Caroline chuckled on the other end. "That's easy. Are you at the boarding house? I'll come over with all of my wedding planning binders. I'll be right over. See you soon!"

Elena stared at her phone in shock. "Okay…well, that worked!"

"This is going to be a disaster." Bonnie muttered.

True to her word, Caroline showed up fifteen minutes later, three totes filled with books. She dumped everything out onto the kitchen table and started arranging them in separate piles by what looked to be by colored tabs in each. "You came to the right place Elena. Show me what you have so far and get out of here, I don't want you to mess this up."

Elena pointed to the boxes on the floor by the kitchen island. "Those are the decorations that we already have from past weddings thrown here and that's pretty much it."

Caroline walked over to the boxes and sifted through some of them content. "Yeah, these can all go in the garbage. They're dusty, smell bad and haven't been used since the 80's. No wedding I plan is going to have anything this tacky." She sat down quickly at the table.

Elena and Bonnie edged closer to the door. "Do you need Damon's credit card?" Elena asked, ready to bolt.

"No, I don't need money, that's what compulsion is for. Now get out." Caroline didn't even bother to look up as she opened a spiral notebook and began taking notes.

"Okay. Thank you!" Elena shouted, rushing out the door, pushing Bonnie with her as she went.

They stopped by the front door. "Should we at least stay in the house?" Bonnie asked.

"No, I think we can take a much needed break. Lets go to the grill." Elena said, grabbing her purse from the hall table. "Don't burn the place down!" Elena shouted, giggling as her and Bonnie ran out the door.

* * *

**Sound off! How did you guys like the last episode? Are you excited about this upcoming one? Can't wait for Elena to get her memories back!**

**Has anyone else ever considered that Giuseppe wasn't Damon's real father? I've thought that since the beginning and to tell you the truth, when I found out that his mother was going to come back, I was shocked that she didn't drop some bombshell like that. Eh, I just always thought he needed more of a reason to hate Damon the way that he did. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed! More to come soon. I realized that I want my season 6 to end before their season 6, so we'll have a lot of updates before then if I want to do it right. **


	4. Chapter 4

**I won't say much here, but SERIOUS VENTING AT THE END!**

**Also, I'm very disappointed in you guys… no comments on the last chapter that mentioned my mocking of a certain someone's recent wedding? Tisk Tisk…**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 4**

"I've searched everywhere for you for over a week, and I come home to find you in my kitchen. It's pretty pathetic."

Caroline rolled her eyes and dropped her pink glitter pen, turning slightly in her seat to look in the direction of Stefan's voice. He was leaning, arms crossed, against the doorframe. She looked him up and down approvingly, there was nothing wrong with looking at someone so yummy, even if she didn't intend on doing anything with him... again. "Well, your search has ended and the mystery solved. Now leave me alone." She turned back to her work, picking up her pen and looking over measurements she took of the main room earlier.

She could hear him approach, but tried to ignore him as he stepped right behind her. He slid his fingers gently through her loose blonde curls. "Don't ignore me." He said, leaning down to whisper into her ear. "I thought we were having fun."

"If you think for one second that I am stupid enough to believe that you don't have your humanity switched on, I feel SO sorry for you."

"Fine." He said, giving up and taking the seat beside her. She shifted her body over so she wasn't sitting shoulder to shoulder with him and moved her chair as far away as possible. "Caroline, will you please talk to me?"

"There is nothing to talk about. I'm trying to plan a wedding and I'm staying out of trouble. That should please your lame humanity ridden conscience. Okay?" She saw him shrug out of the corner of her eye but refused to look at him. She had too much to do and there was no way he was going to distract her. She heard the front door open and close and wondered who was about to bother her next.

"Stefan, what the hell is psycho Barbie doing in my kitchen? And did she do something to Elena and Bonnie, because when I left, they were the ones in here." Damon said, walking in carrying a dozen bags in each hand. He lifted them easily onto the center island and started pulling out the groceries to sort them.

Caroline spun around in her seat to face him, clenching the top of the chair in her hands. "For your information DAMON, Elena called me because she needed help planning this wedding which you both can't seem to plan to save your lives. I'm here to save the day. Just make sure to get your lame brother out of my sight." Finished with her tirade, she glanced at his reusable shopping bags. "You don't strike me as the recycling type." She said offhand, turning back to her work.

"Ah, when you plan on living forever Caroline, you need to make sure the earth is still around . You don't want to be walking around in a desert wasteland for the rest of existence do you? Didn't they teach you that in elementary school?" Damon asking mockingly, dumping out an entire bag of fresh tomato's.

Caroline only shrugged in response. She agreed, but she wasn't about to admit that to him.

Standing, Stefan went over to the center island and stared at the tomato's. "Do you want me to do something with these or do you plan on starting the sauce and the rest of the entrees now?" He asked, trying to contribute. He'd been searching for Caroline all week and had done absolutely nothing to help with the wedding planning.

"No, no no no no!" Caroline exclaimed, rushing over to them and batting the tomato's out of Stefan's hands. Damon and Stefan stared at her speechless. "I've already picked out the perfect menu and the caterers are going to be here the morning of the wedding. You'll just have to find something else to do with all this food. Go donate it or something." She shook her head, exasperated. "God, tomato sauce? What would happen if that dripped on the wedding dress? You are both idiots!"

Turning back to the table, she started to gather up her books and drop them into her own totes. See, she cared about the environment? "I'm going home to finish this. Tell Elena that I will call her with the plans later." And with that, she was out the door in a flash.

Damon whistled, raising his eyebrows mockingly at Stefan. "Oh, she's a real keeper." He teased.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Shut up. You know this isn't her."

Laughing, Damon grinned at him. "Oh, but it is. It reminds me of when we first started dating actually. Crazy, stuck up control freak. Oh how I've missed her." He placed his hands against his heart.

Stefan chucked a tomato at him, but Damon caught it, without squishing it in his hand. Laughing, he threw it into the garbage. "I guess I can cook dinner for everyone tonight. I'll call Elena and see where she and Bonnie are hiding."

Before he could pull out his phone, Stefan touched his shoulder. "Before you call her, I was hoping that we could talk about something for a minute." He said, almost shyly.

"Oh, what is it now? Guilty about all the people you murdered? I thought you said you didn't need a night." Damon asked, a little uncomfortable. He couldn't remember the last time he actually had a heart to heart with Stefan, it may have been the night that Jeremy died...But he wasn't exactly in the mood to have one now.

"No nothing like that." Stefan started. "Although, maybe I should feel guilty, but I'll think about that later. I know I haven't been around that much, but I have noticed that something is on your mind. I thought you'd be a lot happier now that Elena has her memories back. I also may have noticed that you've been avoiding our mother."

Damon scoffed. "I need a drink for this."

Stefan nodded and followed Damon into the sitting room and watched as Damon poured him a drink. He took note of the fact that he was pouring the hundred year old bottle of scotch and realized that this MUST be bad news for Damon to be sharing it with him.

Damon chugged from the bottle.

EXTREMELY bad news, Stefan thought.

"I…" Damon stopped, trying to find the words. He took another huge gulp straight from the bottle. "I am apparently not your brother."

Stefan nearly dropped his glass.

"Well, I am you half brother. Mother decided she would share that little tidbit with me the same night that Elena got her memories back. Great right? Makes a lot of sense though, when you think about it, seeing as father hated me from the moment he laid eyes on me." Damon mused.

It took a moment for Stefan to speak. "Just because we're only half brothers, doesn't mean you are any less my brother Damon. That's ridiculous. Did she tell you who your father was?"

"Some man she fell in love with that worked on her plantation. Who cares? Guy's long dead anyway, no reason to dig up the past. I didn't ask, I told her to get the hell away from me. Way to rain on my happy parade."

"What made her tell you now?" Stefan asked.

Damon laughed in response, digging through his front pocket. "She asked me if I'd planned to ask Elena to marry me and wanted to give me her engagement ring." He pulled the chain from his pocket. "What do you think? Is it Elena's style?" He dangled the ring up in the air for Stefan to see.

Stefan lifted his hand so that the ring rested in the center as he gazed at it. It was a simple silver band with a small, princess cut diamond. "I think she'd love it. Are you really going to ask her?"

Damon shrugged, thinking that it was strange to be talking to Stefan about this. If anything, he would have preferred to talk to Ric or even ENZO about it, but seeing as they weren't around and he probably should talk to his brother about it, he let loose. "I'd already been thinking about it, to be honest. We're um…"

Maybe he shouldn't bring up the cure?

"Damon just spit it out. I'm not going to freak out. Elena and I haven't been together for a very long time and I'm not in love with her anymore." Stefan assured him.

"The reason Elena got her memory back, is because I offered her the cure." Damon admitted.

Shocked once again, Stefan dropped the ring. "But I thought there was only one."

"There was. Until Bonnie brought one back for me from the prison world." Taking another huge gulp of scotch, Damon moved to stand by the fire place, shoving the ring back into his pocket. "We talked about it, after she woke up. I'm going to take the cure too."

Silence stretched out for a moment and all that could be heard was the crackling of the dying fire. Damon wondered if it was the right choice to bring this up to Stefan.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Stefan asked.

"I'm more sure than I've ever been about anything Stefan." Damon assured. "I want to be human with her, to grow old and give her the life and family she deserves." He admitted.

"Then I give you both my blessing."

Damon turned to stare at his brother. "Really?"

Stefan laughed. "Damon, I made your choice for you, to become a vampire. And that has haunted me for as long as I've been one myself. If you are sure about this, and I know you are, then I'll do anything to help you. But if there's only one, how are you going to share it?"

Sighing, Damon leaned against the wall. "Well, that's the tough part… I have to convince Bonnie to let me go back to the 1903 prison world to get the other cure. Which, I'm not looking forward to. But I figure we can bring mother back there and leave her with her mummy buddies, since she misses them so much."

Finally taking a sip of his own scotch, Stefan laughed. "Good luck with Bonnie."

Damon shrugged. "Oh, come on. She loves me now… how can she say no?"

* * *

"No." Bonnie said, staring down at her menu.

"Bonnie…." Elena begged, shooting the wrapper from the her straw into Bonnie's face. "Just call him. I was going to call him anyway to see if he got the message about Alaric's wedding. He hasn't gotten back to me yet. I'm sure he would be happier hearing from you. Ask him to be your date to the wedding!"

Bonnie rolled the piece of paper into a ball and sent it back at Elena. "I already left Jeremy a message saying that I'm happy he moved on to better things. Let him be happy with his new life Elena. Let's just leave it at that."

Elena pouted. "Fine. But what are you going to do if he does show up for the wedding? Just ignore him?"

"No...I'll ask him to dance. We'll have a good time and then we'll part ways." Bonnie smiled. "I appreciate you trying to play matchmaker, but I'm not in the right place at the moment for a relationship. I think I want to be alone for a while. Who knows, maybe he'll finish school and come back and we can pick up where we left off. But for right now, let's just see how the next few days go, okay? We don't even know if he's going to call back or show up."

Nodding, Elena finally conceded. "Fine, I won't bring it up again. For now."

They both placed their orders with the waitress when she came around and sat in content silence for a little while, watching the other patrons around them. Bonnie finally broke it by bringing up the elephant in the room. "How do you know that you'll still love Damon when you're human?"

Elena met her gaze, surprised. "That's a crazy question. I fell in love with him when I was human."

Eyebrows raised, Bonnie laughed. "Oh, so you're finally admitting that now?"

Blushing, Elena nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. I do worry, a little, that maybe he might not love me once HE'S human."

Bonnie shushed her. "That's ridiculous and you know it."

"I don't though." Elena picked up a napkin and began to tear at it nervously. "I've asked him to take the cure with me before. Back when we were on the island. Before we ever knew there was only enough for one. He outright refused. Said he thought that being human would be the worst thing in the world. He also wouldn't take it the last time he was going to die from the werewolf venom. What if he takes it and resents me forever."

Bonnie shook her head. "I really don't think you have anything to worry about Elena. He's traveled through time and space to be with you. He loves you more than anything. Trust me, I had to listen to him day in and day out. 'Elena this' and 'Elena that.' I think the two of you will be just fine."

Elena smiled at Bonnie softly. "Thank you Bonnie. I'm just so happy he's back and that I remember. I loved him even when I DIDN'T remember. Now that I do, I just want to start my life with him. A regular, NORMAL life."

"Well, I'm glad for the both of you. I just don't want to see either one of you get hurt. I care about the both of you and would really hate for things to end badly." Bonnie looked down and twirled the straw in her iced tea. "I will help you get to the other cure. I just want the both of you to be happy. Think of it as a pre-wedding gift if the man ever actually plans on popping the question."

Elena jumped from her seat and wrapped her arms around her friend. "Thank you so much Bonnie!" She cried.

"Am I interrupting?"

Popping up, surprised, Elena stared into Matt's blue eyes. "No! We were just getting a bite to eat. Do you want me to leave?" She asked, unsure.

He shook his head. "No, not at all. I actually came over here to say that I'm really sorry about what I said last week." He said apologetically, his cheeks tinged pink.

Elena shook her head. "Matt, really, there's nothing for you to be sorry for. I wish I could change things…" She trailed off. While she knew that she would be 'changing things' in the future, she didn't want everyone to know just yet. Just in case something went wrong.

Matt reached out and put both his hands on her shoulders. "No, Elena. I had lot of time to think about it when sitting in the hospital and I realized that if things were different... then all of my friends would be dead. I should appreciate that you're not."

She reached out to give him a hug. "Thank you. You have no idea how much hearing you say that means to me."

He squeezed her tight. "I'm sorry I'm such an idiot."

Elena punched him in the shoulder lightly. "Yeah, well… don't do it again. Do you want to join us for lunch?"

"I can't, I'm actually looking for Tyler. Have you seen him around?"

Bonnie frowned and looked at Elena questioningly. "No, actually I haven't. And I was trying to get in touch with him to find out if he was going to come to the wedding. So if you find him, could you ask him to get in touch with me?"

"Ah," Matt said. "Maybe he's hiding out somewhere and not responding because he thinks Liv is going to be there. I'll keep looking and trying to call him and I'll let you know." He leaned over and placed a peck on both Elena's and Bonnie's cheeks. "I'll see you guys on Saturday."

Elena sat down and watched him leave, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad he forgave me."

"Eh, you knew he'd come around eventually." Bonnie said.

"Sometimes I worry that he'll just up and leave. Even though it would be the best thing for him to do." Elena said thoughtfully. Seeing that the waitress was finally coming around with the food, she cleared the torn pieces of napkin from in front of her to make room. She and Bonnie started talking about what they planned on wearing to the wedding, while eating, when Elena's phone started to ring.

"Hey." Elena said warmly to Damon on the other end.

"Just checking to make sure Barbie didn't actually murder you and Bon-Bon and hide the bodies." Damon said sarcastically on the other end.

"Oh, so she didn't burn the place down? That's good!" Elena said, popping a ketchup covered fry into her mouth.

"I stopped her." Damon chuckled. "Actually I was wondering if you were up to having a huge dinner tonight and wanted to invite some people over. I've suddenly found myself with a surplus of food since Caroline ordered me not to have anything to do with the menu."

Elena glanced at Bonnie. "Do you want to come over to dinner."

"Elena we're eating right now!" Bonnie laughed.

"Yeah, but it's lunch time." Elena argued.

"Fine, but no pancakes."

Damon laughed, able to hear Bonnie from her end. "Tell her I promise her, no pancakes. I'm going to start the sauce now, I'll see you both in a little while."

Elena threw her phone back into her purse and picked up her hamburger, taking a huge bite of it. She glanced up at Bonnie's amused expression. "What?" She said, her mouth full.

"You better eat all you can now. When you turn back into a human, you're gonna get fat."

Elena laughed. "Shut the hell up Bonnie!"

* * *

"Ah… finally alone." Damon whispered, kissing Elena's neck as she did her part and cleaned the dishes.

"Hey it was your idea to invite everyone over." Elena teased, flicking water over her shoulder and into his face.

He grabbed her around the waist and spun her around to face him. "I know, next time remind me what a bad idea that was." He said, kissing her full on the lips. Elena dropped the sponge, not caring that it landed on the floor. She'd pick it up later. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss.

Damon picked her up. "Leave the dishes, I'll finish them in the morning. I want you all to myself right now." Elena only nodded in agreement as he carried her up to their bedroom, glad to have some time alone with him. With all the wedding planning, and trying to see her friends, she felt like she hadn't gotten to see him nearly enough in the last week. He threw her on the bed and leaned over her; kissing her deeply while she unbuttoned the front of his shirt.

"I love you." She whispered, looking up at him.

He grinned down at her, cupping her face with both his hands. "And I love you."

She stared at him, trying to memorize his face. Now, just the thought of her erasing him from her memory, seemed like such a foolish thing to do. Why did she ever think that was a good idea? How could she ever repay him for being so understanding about it? If it were her, she would have been devastated, but he'd stayed strong and tried to win her back. He'd really come so far.

He lifted her shirt and started to kiss down the soft skin of her flat stomach and she wondered briefly, what it would be like, having a baby inside, HIS baby. She smiled at the thought, before he went lower.

And she thought no more.

* * *

The sun woke her as it rose the next morning, happy to notice that his arms were still wrapped around her. "Ah, you're finally awake." He said, his fingers dancing down her naked hip.

Elena grinned and turned over. Damon lay on his side, with his head resting in his hand. She looked up at him thoughtfully. "Can I ask you something?"

"Does it involve a naughty bath and maybe some bubbles?" He asked, his hand dipping lower.

"No…" She put her hand on his, to stop his descent. "We haven't really talked about the cure and what will happened after, since the first night you mentioned it. I was wondering if that was still what you wanted."

"Elena, we've both been pretty busy, so I just didn't want to bring it up until we had a moment." He assured her.

Elena sighed. "Okay. But since we haven't spoken about it, I thought maybe you'd changed your mind. I don't want you to jump into this blindly. If you don't want to take it, we'll both just stay vampires."

Damon withdrew his hand completely and fell back on the pillow, letting out a long sigh. "I don't know what I have to do to make you believe that I want to be human with you. I didn't think I would have to CONVINCE you that it's something that I want."

Reaching over to lay her hand on his chest, she tried to get him to look at her. "I just don't want you to resent me for the rest of your life." She said. "I've offered you the cure TWICE and you turned it down each time. I don't want you to make this decision without everyone trying to talk you out of it, even yourself."

Damon pushed her hand away, jumping up from the bed. He paced the length of his room and distracted Elena as she watched his naked form. What was she just saying?

Seeing how frustrated he was, cleared her head enough to grab the sheet and pull it around her as she stood. "Damon-"

"No, just… wait a second." Damon interrupted, holding his hand up to silence her.

He sighed, coming over to her. He reached his hands up to her shoulders. "Okay… I'm going to show you something, just don't… don't hate me."

And with that, she was standing, fully clothed thank goodness, on a silent street.

It was dark and she could hardly make anything out except for a figure laying prone in the middle of the road. "Damon?" She asked out loud. She knew he was showing her something from his memory but she didn't understand why he wouldn't be with her. She looked around. "Why are you showing me the night we met? I already remembered this."

"Just be quiet and watch." His voice said, echoing in her head.

A car rounded the corner and the lights lit up the body laying on the ground. The car stopped short and a woman ran out, toward the man. "Oh my God, are you okay?" The blonde asked.

Okay, Elena thought... definitely not the night we met.

"I'm… lost." Elena heard Damon's voice say and she stepped closer to the scene in front of her.

"Laying in the middle of the road?"

"Not that kinda lost." Elena watched as Damon sat up, sighing, his breath puffing out in front of him in the cold night air. "Metaphorically...existentially."

"Do you need help?" The girl asked, clutching her phone tight in her hands against her chest.

"Well…" Damon began, quickly grabbing his flask from his pocket. "Yes I do. Can you help me?" He asked, moving the flask up to his lips and pouring a large amount of the whisky down his throat.

The girl shifted to her other foot, unsure. "You're drunk." The girl guessed, looking nervous.

"No.. well, well… yes." Damon confirmed, waving his hand up in the air. "A little maybe." He tried to steady himself as he tried to get off of the cold asphalt. She let out an exasperated sigh as she walked past him on her way back to her car. "No, please don't leave. I really do need help!"

Elena winced. She could tell how much pain Damon was in. She wondered when this was. He hadn't gotten that drunk in a very long time. Very drunk Damon made very bad decisions when he was hurt.

She continued walking, ignoring him completely. Sobering up quickly, he got up and sped in front of her, grabbing both of her shoulders. She gasped in shock, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Don't move." He ordered, his pupils dilating.

"I… I don't want any trouble." She stuttered.

Elena moved even closer, trying to stop what she knew would happen,and then realized at the last second that there was nothing she could do.

Damon wobbled slightly. "Neither do I." He assured her. "But, it's all I got. Is trouble."

He pulled away from her a few inches, taking another sip from the flask. She stared at him, horrified. "Why can't I move?"

He stared at her for a moment, before placing the flask back into his pocket and placing his hands again atop her shoulders. "What's your name?"

"Jessica." She answered, her voice trembling.

"Jessica." Damon smiled. "I have a secret."

"I have a BIG one." Damon waved his hands in the air. "And I've never said it out loud. I mean, what's the point?" He raged. "It's not going to change anything. It's not going to make me GOOD." He leaned closer to her face. "It's not gonna make me adopt a PUPPY!"

"I can't BE… what other people want me to be." He said, his face so close to hers their noses almost touched. He watched as tears rolled down her cheeks. "What SHE wants me to be."

"This is who I am Jessica."

She stared up at him, shaking violently. "Are you gonna hurt me?"

"I'm not sure." He answered honestly. Damon stroked her hair. "Because you, are my existential crisis. "Do I kill you, or not kill you?"

She closed her eyes and begged. "Please don't."

He pushed away from her again, indecisive. "But I have to Jessica. Because I'm not HUMAN, and I MISS it. I miss it more than anything in the WORLD." He clenched his jaw. "That is my secret." He begged her to understand.

"But there's only so much hurt a man can take."

Elena wiped the tears from her own face. "Damon, I don't want to see anymore."

She blinked and a moment later, they were back in his bedroom. He was turned away from her, as if scared to face her reaction. She reached over and touched his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "When was that?"

He was silent for so long that she thought maybe he wouldn't answer. "It was the night I killed Rose."

Moving forward, she placed her head on his shoulder. "You didn't kill Rose, you helped her die peacefully." She assured him softly. "At that point, there was no cure. There was nothing you could have done for her."

"So you don't hate me?" He stared down at her, his eyes blazing.

"We've all done some horrible things. I don't condone murder obviously, but I've known loss as a vampire and I do understand how those emotions can take over and make you do terrible things." She reassured him. "Thank you for sharing that with me. I really had my doubts. I don't want you to hate me somewhere down the line."

Damon chuckled. "Elena, I could never hate you. Be pissed at you for a little while, sure, I can do that. But never hate."

He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Please believe that."

Elena met his gaze, her eyes tearing. "I do."

* * *

**Okay, so I think I fixed everything that went horribly wrong in the last episode, right? Ugh, so frustrating! Stefan needs to be understanding and supportive and Elena needs to realize that she's an idiot. And Matt needs to stop being a jerk! Seeing the trailer for the next episode made me so angry. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Let me know what you think of this AND your thoughts on the last episode! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Ouch… that episode hurt.**

**I didn't get to watch it live, but my friend had texted me that Elena was dead. So I got home, and was expecting Elena to be dead. But… she isn't. She'll go into hiding. With Jo, Liv and Tyler. Until Damon and the others can deal with the Kai problem and then they'll meet again, years later. And live happily ever after.**

**Right. …. Right?**

**It was a beautiful episode. POOR RIC!**

**To the guest "Dove"... you always ask questions in your reviews but I have no way to answer you back if your a guest! Go to my twitter HisGem, or my facebook (You can find the link through my twitter) If you want to chat about the show. Or create and account and PM me on here **

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 5**

"Knock, knock." Elena said, stepping into the doorway of Lily's room. It was on the far side of the manor, furthest from Damon's room. The location hadn't escaped Elena's notice, but she didn't say anything. Things had been awkward between the two and she always felt as if she were stepping on eggshells around them. If Lily entered a room, Damon would always find an excuse to leave. And if Lily were in a room, Damon avoided said room altogether.

Lily pulled her gaze from the front window, watching as the guests arrived in their fancy new cars, and looked at Elena. "You look beautiful." She observed, smiling gently.

Elena glanced down at silk lilac dress. "Thank you. Jo thankfully let me pick whatever dress I wanted. Very thankful for that…"

A look of confusion passed across Lily's face before she corrected it. "I hope you have a lot of fun today. I saw the way everything was set up, it looks like it will be a beautiful ceremony."

Elena sat down next to Lily, joining her on the window seat. From there, she had a very good view of the circular driveway and the valet's that were parking the cars to the far right. She was secretly impressed that Caroline had even thought of that detail, though… it was Caroline…

"You aren't dressed up." Elena observed, looking over Lily in her jeans and button down cardigan.

Lily laughed, locking her hands together nervously. "I really don't think I'm welcome." She admitted.

Elena reached out to cover her hands. "I'd like you to come. There's no reason for you to be stuck up here all alone. Come downstairs and have a good time with us. Mingle a little."

A moment of silence stretched as Lily considered Elena's offer, before she finally met her eyes and smiled. "I'd like that very much."

Elena returned the smile and stood, pulling Lily from her spot. "Come on, I'm sure I have something that you could borrow. If not, I'll call Bonnie and ask her to bring a few things over."

Stopping short, Lily pulled on Elena's hand, getting her to stop for a moment. Elena looked at her questioningly. "Thank you for including me. I think my sons are having a hard time learning to adjust with me back in their lives. It's very kind of you. I'm so happy that Damon has someone in his life to love him."

Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, Elena shrugged away the praise. "I've loved Damon for a very long time. He's a great man. So is Stefan. I'm sure they'll come around soon."

Lily shook her head. "Maybe Stefan. I know he's been busy trying to make things work with your friend Caroline, so I haven't seen him around the house much. But Damon…" Her words drifted. "I gave him some news the other day that he took very badly. I'm not sure he'll forgive me."

"He'll come around, I promise. Just give him a little time." Elena assured her. She patted Lily's hand. "Now come on, we have to get ready for your first modern day wedding."

* * *

"Easy there buddy." Damon said, entering Stefan's room and seeing Alaric take a shot of bourbon. "You can't be plastered for the wedding. It's my job to watch you and Jo will murder me."

Ric looked at him confused. "She's not a witch anymore."

Laughing, Damon hung up the garment bag he'd been holding, with Ric's tuxedo safely tucked inside. He'd already gotten ready earlier, and it was now his job to get his friend ready. "Witch or not, she'd find a way to give me a slow and painful death, I'm sure of it." He pulled the bottle away from Ric and downed some of it himself. "Ah… I'm going to miss this."

Unzipping the garment bag, Alaric started to take his suit out. "What do you mean? Elena keeping you on that short of a leash , you're not allowed to get drunk anymore?" He teased.

Damon scoffed. "Yeah right. I meant that, I'll miss the alcohol tolerance. As I recall, the first night we brought you out drinking after turning back into a human did not go so well."

Cringing, Alaric took his suit into the adjoining bathroom to get changed. "I don't remember that night so well." He said. They'd gone out to the grill to celebrate Damon being back and the last thing he remembered was snatching a bottle of tequila from behind the bar when Matt wasn't looking. Damon had told him that he'd gotten so drunk he literally had to carry him home and help him while he threw up for a few hours. Jo had let him listen to the ridiculous message that he left for her at some point during the night. He wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to say, but it all seemed like slurred gibberish.

Snapping out of his memory, or lack thereof, he realized the implication of what Damon said and he poked his head out of the door while pulling up his dress pants. "Human again? You?"

Damon nodded, happy with himself. He'd planned on waiting to tell everyone at once, and after the wedding, but he knew he needed some way to keep Ric distracted and this seemed like a good way to do it. "Elena and I are going to be taking the cure together."

"You're sure you're ready for that?" Alaric asked, buttoning up his shirt and coming out of the bathroom. He lifted the tie over his head and walked over to the mirror on the far side of the room.

"I'm always ready for everything Ric." Damon laughed. "And, I might just steal some of your thunder tonight."

Ric met his eyes through the reflection in the mirror. "No way."

Grinning, Damon pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and popped it open to show his best friend. He'd had just enough time in the last few days to go to the store and have the ring polished and cleaned up. The old woman behind the counter was nice enough to include the box for him. Ric whistled, walking over and glancing down at it. "She's going to love that." He said thoughtfully. "Have you really thought this through though? Elena's still pretty young, and I can't even begin to picture a human, married Damon Salvatore."

Damon shrugged, closing the box and dropping it back into his pocket. "If she doesn't want to get married right now, we'll have a long engagement. And I'm very ready to become a human with her."

"Not for her?" Alaric asked.

"For myself." Damon assured.

Ric was about to respond when Stefan rushed into the room. "Did you know that Caroline was actually going to BE here today? Because she just pulled up and started ordering people around."

Damon rolled his eyes heavenward, silently asking the powers at be for help. "I'll go deal with Caroline." He pointed over his shoulder at Ric, on the way out. "You take care of him and make sure he doesn't drink anymore. Otherwise, I'm blaming you when Jo asks."

He rushed down the stairs to the main floor at human speed, careful in case any of the human guests were to see him. He reached the bottom just as Caroline swept into the front door.

"What are you doing here?" Damon asked, glancing over at Elena and Bonnie who were entering the hallway from the den.

"Um, helping run a wedding. Did you think I was going to stay at home and let this party run itself?" Caroline replied. She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and looked at them patronizingly. "You don't have to worry about me murdering the bride, I don't kill pregnant women. That's more of a Damon thing."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. Damon glanced over at Bonnie. "You TOLD her?"

Elena's gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Bonnie shrugged. "When would I have told her, she's had her emotions off since I got back! We haven't exactly had time to sit down and have a heart to heart."

Caroline whistled, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, that's rich. Something that you confided in Bonnie but never told Elena? Just how close did you two get when you were stuck all alone over there? Elena, did it ever cross your mind that something may have gone down between your best friend and your lover?"

Elena's gaze drifted between them and she watched as they both cringed and made a disgusted face at each other. She almost laughed, there was no chance of that ever happening.

Stefan came quickly down the stairs, hearing the commotion, and where the conversation was headed. "Damon, I can explain-"

Damon stared at Stefan. "You're supposed to be upstairs watching the groom!"

"Oh, no please. Let me explain." Hearing the accent of the new comer, everyone spun toward the front door. Enzo strolled in, his hair slicked back and looking dashing in his suit. "Look's like I've arrived right on time." He grinned.

"What the hell are you doing here? You're not on the guest list." Caroline glared at him.

"I invited him. You're technically not on the guest list either blondie." Damon said, rolling his eyes. "What do you mean you can explain?"

"Well," Enzo started. "I almost brought a date tonight, but had a change of heart and left her safely at home. Her name was Sarah Nelson, but she could also go by the name of Sarah Salvatore. Lovely young girl, right Stefan?"

Stefan cringed, looking apologetically over at Damon. "I was going to tell you, but it never seemed like the right time."

Damon shook his head in confusion. "Why are we bringing Sarah Nelson up. What have you both been up to the last few weeks?"

Now it was everyone else's turn to look confused. "Wait." Stefan started. "You know Sarah?"

Laughing, Damon clapped his hands together. "Stefan, did you think I didn't know that Zach and Gail's daughter was alive? Shame on you. I deposit thousands into her bank account every month and compelled her to never worry about where it was coming from. I'm not an idiot." He glanced over at Stefan. "You would know that if you stuck around and bothered going through any of my paperwork when I died. I do have a will you know. She was supposed to get a very nice amount of money if I were to ever kick the bucket."

"You have a will?" Elena asked. At this point, everyone in the room was shocked and didn't know how this conversation had made such a turn.

"Of course I have a will!"

"Hey!" Jo exclaimed walking into the hallway. "Can we please keep it down? I can hear you from the main room and a couple of people are listening in. Can we have this day with no drama please? It's my day!" She begged. Everyone nodded in agreement, ashamed for not thinking about the fact that everyone could hear their conversation. "Thank you." She said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Glass shattered and everyone's attention turned to Lily, standing at the far end of the hallway. The glass flute of champagne shattered at her feet. She was staring past them in shock.

"Lorenzo?" She whispered.

Everyone's gaze swung to Enzo standing by the door. The same look of shock mirrored on his face. "Lily?"

* * *

**I know it's short, but I figured that was the perfect spot to end it. **

**Sorry about no Delena in this chapter. But you all know something good is coming so I hope you can all forgive me. **

**I'll be posting again tomorrow, I promise. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Only a few chapters left until my season 6 ends, and the MESS of my season 7 begins. (You didn't think I was going to make this easy for them, did you?) Hopefully I'll be able to get them out before Thursday. **

**Are you ready for this? I'm not.**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 6**

"Oh Jesus." Damon muttered

If it would be appropriate, he would be smashing his head against the wall. Seeing as though it wasn't, he controlled himself and tried to look impassive. His mother and Enzo were staring at each other as if no one else was in the room.

And it was disgusting.

"What's going on?" Caroline broke the silence. No one answered her and she lifted her arms, then dropped them to her sides, clearly angry at being ignored. "Find, you guys continue to be weird, I have things to do." And with that, stormed past them to make her way to the kitchen.

Stefan glanced between the two and then at Damon. Taking in Damon's disgusted expression, he finally got it. "Oh... Ohhhh." He said, finally. Laughing at the irony.

"It's not funny Stefan." Damon said through his clenched jaw.

Bonnie and Elena stood, still confused and trying to figure out what was going on. "Can someone explain what we're missing?"

Damon stepped forward and grabbed them each by a shoulder, turning them so that they were facing the den. "Lily and Enzo need to have a chat, so we should leave them alone. Stefan, go take care of Ric. He's probably passed out on the floor by now." He pushed the girls into the den and turned quickly to face the two remaining in the hallway. Damon held up his hand and pointed at each of them. "Behave yourselves." He demanded, before leaving them alone.

"Um…" Lily said nervously. "Perhaps we should take our conversation outside."

Enzo shook himself out of his stupor. "Why would I want to talk to you at all darling? I don't think we really have much to say."

He turned to walk away but Lily, not caring if anyone saw, sped in front of him "What do you mean we have nothing to talk about? I haven't seen you in over a century and the last time, you were human!"

Glancing around to make sure no one saw, he took her by the hand and sped away with her, practically dragging her into the backyard. "Yes, I was a human. One that you compelled to get onto a boat to get rid of me. One that you gave hundreds of dollars to, not thinking about the other people that might want that money!" He turned away from her in anger.

"I don't understand. Please help me understand Lorenzo." Lily begged.

"Who is Damon to you?" He asked, changing the subject.

Confused by the change, Lily almost didn't answer. "He's my son."

Enzo laughed, but it was clear he wasn't amused. "It figures." He stared back into the house. "You had some stranger heal me and compel me to get on a boat. Some of the other passengers were very interested on the wads of money filling my pockets. They took it, and killed me. But I woke up. And I ate them. And I remembered you." He shook his head, not even understanding why he was telling her this. He should have been halfway out of the state by now. "It was too late to turn the boat around obviously. And I had to stay below the whole time. I didn't quite understand what was going on, but I did know that I was different. I couldn't go into the sunlight, for instance. And I couldn't get rid of the HUNGER for fresh blood. The moment we reached land and it was night, I got back on another boat to come back to you."

Lily reached out for him but he flinched away.

"I came back to find you married, to the man that tried to murder me. In love and with child. I assume that would be your dear son Damon." He mocked.

"He's your son!" Lily exclaimed, trying to make him understand.

Enzo blinked.

"I had him compel me too. So I wasn't miserable. To forget about you and to be happy with the man I was being forced to marry. I was happy and in love with him, no matter what he did to me. Every time he screamed or struck me, I was still happy. Until the day I died. And then I remembered you, that Damon was your son and not his. He was a horrible man Lorenzo, and he took it out on Damon. He must have realized what I didn't. But by then, I thought you'd started your own life far, far away from me. I never thought to look for you." Lily admitted.

"Damon...is my son?" Enzo asked. Just the thought baffled him.

Lily nodded.

"Where have you been this entire time then? Damon told me his mother died of consumption when he was young."

"I was a ripper, just like Stefan. The Gemini coven trapped me in 1903. Damon freed me from my prison just last week." She explained.

Enzo paced back and forth over the grass for a moment, his thoughts jumbled. He'd been bitter for close to two centuries. Was he supposed to just ignore all of the hurt she'd put him threw and forgive her the moment she told him the truth? That everything had just been one, very messed up, misunderstanding?

"Screw it." He exclaimed, rushing toward her, slamming his lips against hers. She reacted instantly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling herself up to meet him.

He could be bitter later.

* * *

"They're KISSING!" Elena whispered, letting the curtains fall back in front of the window. She and Bonnie, hadn't been intentionally spying, but when she'd heard their muffled, quiet voices from outside, she couldn't help herself. If Damon had just told her what was going on, she wouldn't have snooped. So when he'd gone upstairs to check on Ric, she'd gone over to the window to see if anything could be seen.

"What do you think is going on?" Bonnie asked, trying to hide her amusement.

Elena shook her head. "I have no idea. I couldn't hear what they were saying to each other."

"Elena, stay out of it." Damon said, reentering the room. "It's gross."

"How in the world to they know each other? I thought you and Enzo met during the Augustine experiments." She asked.

"How much longer until the wedding is supposed to start?" Damon asked ignoring her question completely. Elena huffed.

Bonnie checked her watch. "It should be starting in about an hour. I think most of the guests have already gotten here and started drinking though."

"Perfect!" Damon exclaimed, taking Elena's hands. "We have an hour. What do you say to a quicky in the carriage house?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Ew Damon! Please discuss these things privately where I am not present!" Bonnie screeched.

Laughing at her friend's obvious discomfort Elena shook her head. "Damon, I can't. I have to help Jo get ready."

Damon pouted, looking over at Bonnie. "Bonnie, we're best friends now, right? Can you do a guy a solid and go help Jo while I spend some quality time with my beautiful girlfriend?" He wrapped his arms tightly around Elena from behind and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Ugh. Fine. You owe me one though. And NEVER ask me to do this again. I'll see you later Elena." With that, she picked up her clutch from one of the chairs and left the room.

Giggling, Elena waved after her even though Bonnie wasn't looking. "Quick, quick." She said to Damon. "And we can't mess up my hair too badly." He nodded into her shoulder and picked her up bridal style. Surprised, Elena let out a scream and wrapped her arms securely around his neck, even though she knew there was no way he would ever drop her.

Not even a blink later, they were standing outside the doors of the carriage house.

Thankful that they were alone, Elena leaned over and kissed him before he let her down to find her own footing. He pulled away from her for a moment and opened the latch on the door, motioning for her to enter before him.

She smiled sweetly as she passed him and stopped short once inside.

"I didn't realize Caroline decorated in here." She said, amazed.

All of the junk that Stefan usually kept inside, was cleared out, leaving a clear view of the beautiful cobble stoned floor that she failed to notice any other time before. Red and white rose petals were lightly sprinkled over it, from wall to wall. String lights hung from the newly installed chandelier hanging from the center of the roof, and were connected to the walls, making a lit canopy.

"She did such a good job." Elena commented, stepping further into the room and looking around. "Is this where we're having the reception? I wonder if she realizes that no one put any tables and chairs in here. I hope that's not going to make her flip out and murder someone. Maybe we should start moving things ourselves?"

Suddenly realizing that Damon was letting her ramble on without answering any of her questions, she spun around to see what he was up to.

And was met with the sight of the man she loved with all her heart, knelt down on one knee.

Her hands flew to her mouth, blocking the gasp that escaped.

"I was wondering when you would shut up and turn around." He said grinning at her. "Caroline didn't decorate in here. Bonnie and I did."

Tears filled her eyes. "So you guys HAVE been keeping secrets from me." She teased.

His face turned serious as he lifted his hand and positioned his thumb and pointer finger a small distance apart. "Just a bit."

Damon reached into his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box, for what felt like the billionth time that day. He'd kept bringing it out earlier to just look at it and try to come up with the perfect words to say to her.

All those words escaped him now.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to just wing it.

"Elena Gilbert, from the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew that you would mean more to me than anything else on this earth. We've been through hell and back, literally. I love you more than life itself. I want to be your husband, your partner and the father of your children." He reached up to hold one of her hands in his own. "I want to grow old with you and be with you until the day I take my last breath."

His eye mirrored hers and teared as he looked up at her. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Elena sunk to her own knees in front of him and began peppering small kisses all over his face. "Yes Damon. A million times yes." She gasped out between kisses. He shifted and went to put the ring onto her left ring finger when she stopped him. "Not yet. Let's wait until after the ceremony. I know everyone will spot it if I put it on now and right now, this is Jo's time. I'll put it on and we can announce it to everyone after the reception. Is that okay?"

Damon nodded putting the box back into his pocket. He was slightly disappointed, he wanted the whole world to know right away, but she was right. There would be time for them to announce it later.

Sliding her hands under his black dress coat, Elena grinned up at him. "So... What was that about a quickie? "

* * *

Rushing through the front door, Elena ran her fingers through her knotted hair, trying to calm it down. Damon hadn't kept his promise and it was all over the place. But it really couldn't have been helped. And it was completely worth it. She reached the hallway right in the nick of time, as the music from inside the main room started just as she reached Bonnie.

Bonnie stared at her with wide eyes. "It's about time!" Bonnie whispered, grinning from ear to ear and nudging her friend with her elbow. She passed over the second bouquet she was holding.

Before Elena was able to grab it though, Bonnie pulled away. "Nope, let me see it!"

Elena wanted to mess with her a little for the jab. "I don't know what you're talking about." She mumbled stoically.

Bonnie peered down at Elena's once again ring-less hand and then back up at her questioningly, a look of concern crossing her face. "But I thought-"

"Give me my flowers, you need to get out there." She grabbed the flowers from Bonnie's hands and pushed her into the main room.

Damon took his place at the end of the aisle, in front of the fireplace at Ric's side. His friend shot him a disbelieving look but all he could do was smile in reply. In fact, he couldn't seem to wipe the smile off of his face. Especially since he saw Bonnie walking down the aisle in front of him. She was throwing him a very concerned look. He'd heard Elena teasing her in the hallway and wasn't above teasing her himself. He shrugged at her.

Taking her steps to the other side of the minister, Bonnie was confused. Had Damon chickened out at the last second and really only banged Elena? She and Damon had worked so hard clearing out that stupid carriage house and decorating it and it was all for nothing. For her trouble, she sent a bit of magic his way and was satisfied to see him wince as the aneurysm in his brain burst.

He sent her a murderous glance and then was distracted from the vision of Elena entering the room.

Yes, he'd seen her only moments ago, but watching her walk toward him down the aisle, gave him chills. She was a vision in the light purple dress she was wearing and he noticed for the first time that the skirt she was wearing was sheer, allowing him to see the stretch of her long legs beneath.

His breath sped up as their eyes locked and she looked at him lovingly. He knew that they were both thinking the same thing. That this would be them soon, her meeting him at the altar and sharing vows.

He'd lied to Ric, if she wanted to wait, it would kill him.

He had half a mind to compel everyone in the room, including the minster and make this his wedding.

This was his future.

And he was the happiest man, soon to be, alive.

* * *

**One of my best friend is coming over on Thursday. We're going to dress in all black and he's going to wear his Damon Salvatore ring. We're going to skype our other friend and we're all going to watch it together and cry and mourn the loss of Elena Gilbert. And The Vampire Diaries, as we know it. **

**And I'm forcing my husband to watch it too. **

**We're lame. But that's okay. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I'll say this right now... I'm going to try my best to finish my season 6, before CW Season 6. Which means, I have to write and post two chapters after this, in the next 17 hours. Which probably, won't happen. **

**I'm going to try as hard as I can though. **

**My friends are going to wear black and mourn the loss of Elena Gilbert. Follow me on twitter to join along with the trend. My username is HisGem and we're going to post a selfie in our "funeral clothes." **

**We're going to hashtag**

**OnThursdayWeWearBlack**

**RIPTVD**

**NoElenaNoSupport**

**Please join along with us :)**

**Or join me on facebook, we'll be doing the same thing on there. My name is Megan Sheridan Dziegelewski**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 7**

The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur to Damon. He recalled some sort of rose ceremony and the traditional "I do's" and then they kissed. At one point, while Jo and Ric had been exchanging vows, he'd looked over at Elena and she'd mouthed to him that she loved him. He'd very happily mouthed the words back to her.

The next thing he knew, he was walking out with Elena on his arm as people clapped and started wishing the happy couple their congratulations.

Bonnie slapped him on the shoulder with her bouquet once they were back out in the hall. "What the hell Damon?!"

He chuckled and turned to face her, putting his arm over Elena's shoulders as she cuddled into his side. "Oh, cool your jets Bon-Bon. We don't want to steal the newly married couples thunder. The answer was yes and we'll all talk about it later."

Bonnie said nothing before throwing herself at them and wrapped them both up in a hug. "You both had me worried for a minute. And you're both HORRIBLE for teasing me like that."

"Sorry Bonnie." Elena said apologetically. She wrapped her arms around Damon's waist and squeezed.

"What are you people doing?" Caroline exclaimed, walking speedily down the hall, a clipboard in her hands. "You're supposed to go directly into the yard and sit down and wait for the reception to start. Didn't you get my printed itineraries?"

"Oh, that paper you handed me earlier today? Yeah, I threw that away." Damon commented. Caroline's face began to turn red with anger. "Watch out Caroline, I'm pretty sure there is steam starting to come out of your ears." He grinned mockingly down at her and guided Elena out toward the back patio where everything was set up. It was decorated very similarly to the carriage house, with the string lights hanging from the trees and attached to the upper windows of the house. Damon wouldn't admit it to Caroline, but he MAY have stolen a few of her decorations when they were delivered.

He briefly wondered if she'd checked the count and killed the delivery guy.

A table right next to the patio doors was holding cards with their names on them. He quickly snapped up his, Elena's and Bonnie's and guided them over to their assigned table where Matt was already waiting. He glanced up as they approached and stood, pulling out a chair and motioning for Bonnie to sit down. "There's my date. I thought you ditched me."

"Never." Bonnie said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sitting down.

They all took their seats and noticed that there were other name tags already waiting on the table. Elena eyed the ones with Jeremy, Stefan, Liv and Tyler's names written in Caroline's neat cursive. Matt saw her looking and shrugged. "They were up there, so I figured I would grab them. Even though we haven't heard from them."

"Good idea." Elena commented. "Jer never called me back."

"Ah, leave the kid alone, it's not like he's spending all his time partying." Damon said.

Elena sent him a suspicious look from the corner of her eye. "Do you have someone spying on him?"

Laughing, Damon shook his head. "No, but I probably should. That kid is as bad as you when it comes to being a danger magnet. I gave him a credit card. It has only been used for the college essentials. Maybe he's just enjoying college life and forgot to check his phone."

"For two weeks?" Elena asked. Damon only shrugged in response.

The MC asked for everyone to stand as Jo and Alaric took their places on the makeshift dance floor. He announced them as husband and wife for the first time and the orchestra began playing a soft tune. Jo molded herself into Ric and they began to sway back and forth to the music.

As Ric slowly turned and was facing Damon, Damon gave him a big thumbs up. Ric tried his hardest to give him a stern look but he was just too happy to pull it off properly.

Elena stepped up beside him and laid her head on his shoulder. "They look so good together." She felt Damon nod his head in agreement. "I really like Jo." She said. "But… this is such a horrible thing to say, especially right now. Especially since he looks so happy. I miss Aunt Jenna."

"I do too." Damon kissed her on the forehead and reached down to take her hand. "Dance with me?"

As if it were actually a question.

Elena laughed as they made their way out onto the dance floor.

After all… it was a tradition.

Damon spun her out and then pulled her back close against him and she wrapped herself around him. This was no formal dance with any rules they had to follow, this was them just being themselves. They could dance however they wanted.

Elena loved this about him.

She remembered when she had been with Stefan, and how it had always been such a chore to get him to dance. It was one of the reasons why she'd been so drawn to Damon in the first place. He knew how to let loose... have fun. Move his body to the music. When he danced you could tell how much passion was in it.

She spied Stefan from across the yard, following after Caroline, still holding her clipboard. She giggled a little, both Stefan and Caroline looked beyond frustrated. She knew that if Caroline looked frustrated, than it was just one step closer to getting her humanity back. Focusing her hearing, she was able to hear Stefan.

"Care, just slow down for a minute and talk to me." He begged.

Caroline spun around. "Will you just leave me alone? I have things to do!"

Elena watched as he grabbed her arm and made her stop walking. "I just wanted to tell you that you look beautiful and that I would really like it if you would dance with me."

"Stop spying." Damon mumbled into her hair.

Elena looked up at him. "I'm sorry. Just seeing how they are doing. Do you think she's closer to switching it back on?"

He shrugged. "Only time will tell. Sometimes, I really can't tell the difference. She's so much like human Caroline right now, that she may have already switched it back on."

She nodded in agreement and was about to speak when she was distracted again, seeing Lily and Enzo dancing. Awfully close.

"So…" She began. "Are you going to tell me what's going on with your mother and your best friend?"

Damon groaned. "Do I have to?"

"No, but it's a little confusing. But if you don't want to talk about it-"

"The ring that I gave you, was from my mother." Damon cut her off. "She gave it to me and felt the need to let me know that it was her one true love" He stopped and dipped her, kissing her for a moment before he let her back up. "Apparently, her one true love happens to be Enzo."

Shocked, Elena took a moment to process. "Well, that's nice." She finally said. "And… weird."

'You could call it that." Damon spun her. "He's also, apparently, my real father."

Elena stopped on the dance floor. "What?"

"Well… since I don't know his last name, how do you feel about being Elena Smith in the future? Since Salvatore is not a name that belongs to me?" Damon asked sarcastically.

"Damon Smith doesn't sound very impressive" Elena teased, gripping his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "Are you upset?"

Damon rolled his eyes up and tried to hide the fact that he wasn't bothered, but Elena saw through his facade. "Damon, I can tell you from actual EXPERIENCE, it doesn't matter. You are still Stefan's brother, you are still your mother's son. You didn't tell me, but Stefan may have mentioned in passing, how your father treated you. Don't you think this might be a blessing in disguise?"

Taking a moment to actually think about what she said, he spun her around again, and maneuvered her between the other couples on the dance floor. She was right, of course. In her 19 years on this earth, she'd been through a pretty good amount of bull shit. He thought back to when she found out that her parent's weren't actually her parents and recalled telling her "Who cares about her, she left you." When speaking about Isobelle. But it wasn't the same case with his situation. From what he could tell… his mother seemed to genuinely care about him.

Seemed to.

And though Enzo didn't know he was his father, he'd offered up that blood when they were stuck in those cages together. Looking out more for him, and not for himself. They'd spoken about it, when they were stuck there. If one were to get the chance to escape, they'd promised to save the other. But just the fact that he'd sacrificed his daily rations for him… This thought was new territory for him.

Knowing now that Enzo was his father, when he himself had no idea, put things into a different perspective.

Damon had failed his own father.

Even though he didn't know it was his father at the time, he'd still left him to die, when it meant saving his own ass.

And yes, there had been some conflict when they'd finally met up again. But Enzo had forgiven him almost right away.

And then started a stupid rivalry with Stefan because Stefan didn't care "as much as he should have." So it was almost as if... his father was looking out for him.

Damon thought about that for a moment.

His actual father.

Cared about him.

The thought was completely foreign.

As he danced with Elena though the night, and once with Bonnie, he thought about the implications of having two parents that loved him.

And thought it might be crazy…

Damon stared up at the bright full moon that helped light the dance floor and thought about how happy he was.

This moment in time, he was the happiest he'd ever been.

* * *

THE GUESTS filtered out the front door, all waving good bye, all pretty drunk. Damon wondered if he should call more than one of them a taxi for the night seeing as though most of them were tripping all over themselves. And then he wondered why Caroline hadn't thought about hiring taxi's herself.

No one had spilled anything over the couches or rugs.

No one had broken anything.

Okay, that was a lie. A server had broken a champagne flute, but Damon had cleaned it up before any of the humans noticed.

Thank God.

As he stood next to Ric at the bar of the sitting room, he looked at everyone who was left. Mat lounged in an armchair close to the fire, dozing off.

Jo was lying, half passed out, on the couch in between Elena and Bonnie. Her bare feet propped up on the coffee table, her high heels forgotten hours before.

Caroline sat in a chair close to the windows at the front of her house, going over her "cleaning" checklist.

Lily and Enzo sat in a love seat toward the back of the room, speaking so softly to one another than no vampire's could hear what they were saying, completely unaware of anyone else in the room.

Ugh.

Stefan and Ric were standing by the entrance to the sitting room, each with a generously filled glass of expensive bourbon. Damon watched as Ric wobbled a bit on his feet. He debated whether or not he should tell Stefan to put him to sleep.

He didn't want to tell him that just yet.

He had something very important to announce.

"Elena." Damon spoke so low that only a vampire could hear.

Of course this meant that not only Elena, but Lily, Enzo, Stefan and Caroline's heads snapped up to the whispered request.

He watched as Elena turned to him and her eyes GLITTERED as she stood and made her way over to him near the windows of front of the room. She took his hand as they both turned to face their friends.

Damon grabbed her left hand in his, stealthy pulling it behind his back to slip the ring onto her finger. As he did so, he could hear her slight heartbeat pick up it's pace.

"So," He began, looking around the room to make sure everyone was semi-awake and paying attention. He noticed that Caroline had stood and moved from her chair next to Elena, to see exactly what was going on. When he noticed all tired eyes were on him, he continued. "Earlier tonight, before the wedding, I asked Elena to marry me."

A few surprised gasps were heard around the room, except for Alaric, Stefan and Bonnie. Their expressions remained amused.

Damon continued, despite the shocked reaction. "She just so happened to say yes."

He watched as Lily stood and held her hands against her heart, a proud look crossing her face seeing Elena raise her hand and seeing what ring was wrapped around her finger.

Caroline swiftly moved in front of Elena, grabbing her hand to look down at her ring. "Are you going to let me plan your wedding too?" She asked.

Elena glanced over to Damon questioningly as she let Caroline inspect the ring, turning her hand this way and that.

Damon shrugged.

He didn't give a crap what their wedding looked like. He just wanted to be able to call her his wife.

Elena smiled at him and patted Caroline's hand. "Caroline-"

Stained glass windows shattered and Damon attempted to block his face as shards of glass rained down on him.

Elena tried to turn when she heard the blast but was suddenly pushed onto the ground by a large weight on her back, thankfully Caroline had gotten out of the way before she'd fallen on top of her.

Confused with the screams and sudden movement, Elena tried to get up to look at Damon when she felt someone, someTHING savagely bite into her neck from behind. She screamed, trying to break free but her voice wouldn't cooperate as the beast on her back broke bones and tendons in her neck. She could feel each vein and bone snap, and watched her own blood spill onto the floor below her.

Damon let out a roar and slammed into the wolf on top of Elena, viciously ripping it's teeth from her neck as they went flying toward the fireplace. As they rolled he ended up on top and he proceeded to wrap his hands around its neck to try to get it to stop snapping at him.

It's teeth clamped around his arm, and then let go, pulling him forward and then locking again around his neck as he screamed. Damon's body froze up in pain and the wolf flipped him over, gaining control. It's fangs bit again, this time deeply into the other side of his neck and he was dimly aware of his mother screaming his name.

Suddenly all movement stopped. The wolf on top of him shuddered and dropped, lying it's heavy body on top of him. He couldn't move a muscle, but he was able to see that an arrow was buried deep in it's back.

With an amazing amount of effort, he moved his eyes to gaze toward the front of the room, where Jeremy stood in a tuxedo, his crossbow held firmly in both hands.

"Sorry I'm late."

* * *

**Now, please tell me how many of you guys are fans of the books. And were, before the show came out. Because there's a little easter egg in here that has to do with the books. Let me know if you caught it. **

**Good luck to all of you tonight. **

**Virtual hugs to you all. **


	8. Chapter 8

**So I clearly wasn't able to update before the finale. Thoughts on THAT disaster are after the chapter.**

**FYI... I want to let you all know that this is going to get worse before it gets better. **

**I hope you'll stick with me. **

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 8**

Elena struggled to get to her feet, the stained glass from the shattered window digging into her hands, but she didn't care. She watched Jeremy and Stefan haul the massive werewolves body off Damon's unmoving body. She saw them drag it through the halls and to the entrance of the basement.

Stumbling, she fell forward onto his chest just as Lily reached them. "What was that?" Lily exclaimed, putting a hand over one side of Damon's leaking neck.

He groaned and tried to pull away, looking hazily up at the both of them. "A freakin problem, that's what it is."

Elena looked up frantically looking for Caroline. She spotted her over by the fireplace, staring at them all in shock. "Care, did Klaus leave you any of his blood the last time he came here?"

Caroline blinked, and her eyes hardened. "He did, but I had to use it all. Ugh, this adds a lot more to my cleaning list." She muttered unhappily.

Matt walked over and stood directly in front of her. "Well you call him right now and see if he can get his ass over here. This is your fault, isn't it? What did you do to Tyler."

Shrugging, Caroline picked some glass off the front of her dress. "I don't have to call him if I don't want to...and believe it or not, I was saving your life. You think Tyler would have made a good partner if he was always worried about killing someone? If you were in danger and he had to choose between protecting you and shooting someone? He'd hesitate. Please don't tell me neither of you thought about that before signing up to save the world, one small town at a time." She mocked.

She looked over at Damon and Elena. "I'm going to start cleaning up the buffet table before we start getting ants." She said, making her way outside.

Elena tried to wipe some of the blood off of her hands onto a clean part of her dress, before reaching up to cup Damon's cheek. His gaze shifted so he was only looking at her. "You've got to tell me where the cure is. I have more time, but I think he was able to get more venom into you."

"Elena, I'm not going to take it before you. It's going to take a lot of time to get it from 1903." Damon argued.

Elena shook her head. "It doesn't matter. What was it that you told me, about those prison worlds? You can't die right? So you take the cure, and we'll go there and I'll die and just come back to life over and over again, until we make it to Nova Scotia."

The idea seemed like a good one. Bonnie joined them on the floor, not caring about the blood that was soaking through her own dress. "That should work." She encouraged.

Damon shook his head and winced. "Then we'll both go, die over and over again and take the cure at the same time."

"Damon, you can't even get off the floor right now, you're not going to be able to get to Nova Scotia." Elena said.

He struggled and finally made it up into a sitting position. "I'm fine."

Sitting back on her heels, Lily glanced at the both of them in confusion. "You want to go back to 1903?"

Not wanting to hear this again from his mother, Damon rolled his eyes. "If you'd like to go back to your creepy corpse dollhouse, you can join us, but you're not coming back with them. It's too dangerous. We have enough to worry about, we don't need a group of immortal psycho witches added to our very VERY long list."

Lily shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I KNOW they're dangerous. I heard you talking about what they were. I destroyed the ascended with your father earlier. To prove to him that I didn't need anyone else, just him!" She said sadly, realizing what a horrible mistake she made.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose.

Of course she destroyed it.

Nothing could ever be easy, could it?

"Seriously?"

Everyone's eyes snapped to Caroline in the doorway, carrying two filled black plastic garbage bags. When no one answered, she started laughing. "Damon Salvatore is the only one in the room with both parents? How does that make any sense? Aren't you 200 years old?"

"That's what you're worried about Caroline?" Alaric stomped toward her, his temper finally flaring.

Caroline looked him up and down, laughing a little. "You're really going to come that close to me when you were the one that killed MY father?"

"You know I'm sorry about that, and if I could change it I would." Ric sputtered.

Shrugging, Caroline glanced around the room, not looking at anything in particular. "Oh, it doesn't matter. He would have tried to kill me again eventually anyway. He never accepted me for what I was. Which is really ironic when you think about how supportive I was when he came out of the closet. 'I can't change what I am or how I feel Caroline.'" She mimicked a man's deep voice , making fun of her father. "Well, I can't change what I am either."

Alaric tried to keep his cool, but didn't want to get off track. "You're going to call Klaus right now, because you owe Damon."

Caroline dropped the garbage bags and started laughing hysterically holding her stomach, just as Jeremy and Stefan came back through the hall. They each stood away from her, not sure how to approach.

"That's rich. Why in the world do I owe Damon Salvatore?"

"Because he died to save your mother. If it wasn't for him, you would have gotten to plan her funeral a HELL of a lot earlier than you did. You got extra time. You got to say goodbye to her. That should count for something!" Ric screamed.

Caroline stopped laughing.

At everyone's silence and questioning looks, Ric continued. "When the grill blew up, I saw Elena, but we couldn't find Damon. I told Elena to go ahead, and that I would find him. When I found him, he was trying to pull a beam off of the Sheriff. She'd been in the back room when she gave the okay for him to blow it up. We pulled it off of her and made sure she would be okay, before running back to Bonnie. Damon would have been able to come back if it wasn't for that, so yes Caroline… you owe him."

"Aw buddy, don't try to make me out to be the hero." Damon croaked from his spot on the floor. Elena ran her hands through his hair, finally understanding why he'd been so late that night.

He couldn't leave his friend behind.

A flood of emotion threatened to take over, but Caroline pushed it down as much as she could. "Fine, I'll call him." She conceded and walked over to her clutch on the hall table, grabbing her phone. She dialed his number and sighed when it went straight to voice mail. "Klaus, it's Caroline. Call me back right away, or just come here. We need more of your blood." She clicked the end button and looked at everyone. "Well, nothing else I can do now, it was off."

"Call Elijah." Ric demanded.

Rolling her eyes, Caroline searched the phone for his number and hit the dial button. He luckily picked up after only a few rings. "Sweet Caroline, I assume you're looking for my brother?" He said politely into the phone.

"This isn't a social call Elijah, do you know where he is? I called him and it went straight to voice mail." She said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I'm afraid he's skipped town with Rebecca for a little while. I'll try to get a message to him that you rang. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime?"

"Damon and Elena were both bitten, so we need some of Klaus's blood. Do you have any laying around?"

Elijah tisked on the other end. "He should send you care packages every month, for the amount of times you need it over there in Mystic Falls. I shall do my best to find him and let him know that he's needed. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do. I may be able to send a few witches over."

"Thank you." Caroline said, hanging up the phone. "There, are you happy? I'm going to finish cleaning up."

Elena sighs, shaking her head and turning back to face Damon. "You have to take the cure now, you won't last long enough for us to figure out where Klaus is."

Stefan steps over to them. "Elena, why don't you take the cure and then Damon will suck it out of you? Then you would just age naturally while the cure remains in Damon."

Damon shook his head again, this time a little more easily. The wounds were healing, at least for now, they'd be a bitch again later though. "We don't know for sure if that's what happened to Katherine. It might just be a regular side effect of the cure, no matter what age you are. I won't risk it."

Matt cleared his throat, making everyone in the room turn to him. He sat down on the couch opposite Jo, and propped his arms up on his knees. "What about traveling? Can't you switch bodies Elena? Katherine did it to you."

"I don't think it would work. She's a vampire. If vampire's were able to do it, Nadia would have traveled when she was bitten." Bonnie argued.

Stefan crossed his arms. "But we're doppelgangers. It may work. The same rules don't always apply to us. Traveling might work."

"I don't know how to travel Stefan." Elena admitted. Damon reached out to her, pulling her close. "I don't know any of the spells."

"I do." Matt chimed in. "I remember everything that happened when Gregor traveled into me."

"Okay, let's try it then." Damon said, painfully trying to pull himself to his feet. Elena grabbed his shoulder to help. Jeremy joined the group, assisting Elena as she guided Damon over to the couch to sit by Matt. "You travel and then I'll take the cure."

"We need to find someone for me to travel into, so why don't YOU take the cure and then I'll travel." Elena argued.

Damon laughed, which turned into a cough. He held his hand up to his mouth and noticed the little bit of blood. Elena grabbed his hand to see and glanced up at him, startled. "Damon, we don't have time to argue about this. You have to take the cure first."

"And what if the traveling doesn't work. What then Elena? I live out my pathetic human life without you?" Damon argued.

Elena was about to respond when Bonnie broke into their conversation. "If the traveling doesn't work, I can use the same spell that I used on Klaus when I put him into Tyler. It will take a lot of power, but I think I can do it."

"THINK you can do it, isn't good enough for me Bon-Bon." He said sternly.

"Well, we're not going to give you a choice." Enzo said, entering the room. Everyone looked up, surprised. In all the commotion, they'd forgotten he was even there. He held up the small wooden box. "You're top drawer wasn't exactly the best hiding spot Damon." He walked directly in front of Damon and took the vial out of the box.

Damon held his hands up weakly, as if to block him. "Enzo, I appreciate it, but no thanks. I won't do this until I'm sure that Elena's going to be okay."

Enzo looked up at the ceiling and tapped his finger against his lips, as if he were contemplating Damon's request. "Hmm… I don't think so." He glanced over Damon's shoulder to look at Lily. "Hold him down." Damon felt hands on his shoulders but he was too weak to do anything about it.

He struggled and looked over to Elena, pleading with her to do something. "Damon, I'm sorry but I agree with them." She said, begging him to understand. She stood back and let Enzo break the vial and pour the liquid down Damon's throat.

Damon struggles stopped as his eyes flashed with betrayal, and then slid closed.

* * *

**So many problems with this season finale.**

**1\. Elena is "physically fine" but everyone gathers around her and not around Ric. Who was left to carry the body of his "wife" and unborn children and put them in his TRUNK and mourn her alone. WTF? Someone should have been there for him. **

**2\. Jeremy coming in and saying "I'm sorry I missed the wedding." - I'm sorry... shouldn't it have been "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you to help you through your wife and children being MURDERED**

**3\. Why could't Caroline and Stefan just TRY to give Jo blood? They stood there shocked over Elena and did not help at ALL.**

**4\. The goodbyes were too rushed.**

**5\. Elena didn't tell Stefan to take care of his brother. This bothered me a lot and would have probably made me at least a little happier with the episode. I'm a fan of the books first and foremost. When she died in the books, she made SURE to tell them to watch after each other because she was worried about how Damon would react to her death. **

**6\. Never before, in the HISTORY of The Vampire Diaires has anyone just taken someone's word for anything. Every single spell or curse that they came across, they all worked hard to find that loophole. This time, they just said "Oh, this is what Kai told us, must be true. Let's let her sleep for a billion years!" Yeah... okay. **

**7\. Damon has to wait for many years for a "specific event" to happen, so that he can break his true love out of the tomb - oh... I mean, crypt. Yeah, that's original... **

**8\. And come ON with this splicing in Caroline and Stefan scenes in between REALLY IMPORTANT Elena and Damon scenes. I REALLY like Stefan and Caroline together, but they shouldn't have done that AGAIN. (Thank you to the person on YouTube who took those scenes out and gave us the scene uninterrupted) **

**Things I DID like:**

**1\. The dance, it was beautiful.**

**2\. Stefan telling Caroline that he's needed his brother more than he's ever needed Elena. **

**3\. Elena telling Bonnie to write everything down in a diary. If you're not aware, in the books, Bonnie takes up the Diary writing after Elena dies, so I thought that was a nod to the books, if the writers bothered to actually read the books (Though if it was, then they should have put in number 5 above) **

**Alright, I think I'm done venting. Sorry for being so long winded. **

**One more chapter until the end of my season 6. Then continuing onto season 7. **


	9. Chapter 9

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 9**

"Enzo, can you bring him upstairs to his room? I want him to be comfortable when he wakes up." Elena requested, reaching out her hand and using the arm of the couch for support. Her legs were starting to tingle and she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to stand on her own. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she may have overestimated on how long she had before the werewolf venom would kill her.

He nodded and leaned over, wrapping an arm around Damon's midsection and hauling him up over his shoulder. She watched as he left, Lily trailing behind him, biting the nails on her left hand nervously.

As soon as they were out of sight, she let out a sigh of relief and her legs collapsed. Stefan caught her and gently lowered her to the couch. "Thank you." She said softly.

"We should work on the spell right now. I don't think you have much more time than Damon did. Tyler got you right in your jugular." Stefan mentioned, pointing at her healed neck, seeing right through her lie.

Elena sighed. "Yes, I know. I want to wait until he wakes up though." Stefan gave her a warning look. "I know, I know. I didn't stop them from taking away his choice, so why would you let me make my own?" How could she possibly make him understand her choice?

"Stefan, you weren't here, you didn't see me when he was gone. I can't handle being without him again. I won't. Please don't ask me to." She begged.

Stefan stared into her eyes for a while, before mumbling a quiet "Okay." He started to back away from her when she grabbed his bloodied sleeve.

She looked up at him, pleading. "I need you to promise me something."

"Whatever you want." He assured her, placing his hand over her own.

"If this all goes wrong, and I die… PROMISE me you'll be there for him. That you won't run away again. That you'll look out for him. Compel him. Tell him that I never existed. I don't care what you tell him. Just make sure he lives a fulfilled life as a human. Make sure he's happy." She begged.

Stefan looked down at the floor for a moment, before meeting her gaze again. "I promise. But it doesn't matter anyway. Everything is going to work out fine." He said, his words confident.

She smiled up at him. "Of course, you're right."

He patted her hand and moved away. Everyone moved closer so that they were sitting in a circle around the coffee table, in front of the dying fire. Elena looked over to see that Jo was crying softly. She frowned. "Jo, I'm sorry we ruined your wedding."

Jo let out a teary laugh. "Don't be ridiculous. The wedding and reception were beautiful. You didn't ruin anything at all."

Elena looked up toward Alaric. "Take her home. I think she's had enough excitement for one day." Ric nodded and approached her, giving her a tight hug. "I love you Ric." She whispered in his ear. She could feel a few teardrops fall on the side of her neck. She patted his back. "Go, enjoy your first night as husband and wife. I promise I'll call you tomorrow."

"Love you kid." He said, pulling away. Jo followed a moment later with her heels in one hand, her small purse in another. She gave Elena a soft hug and a kiss on the cheek, before they made their way to the door.

"Ric!" Elena shouted as loud as she could. He turned to her questioningly. "I almost forgot. I think Damon left a gift for you on your inside pocket."

Alaric dug into his coat and pulled out a folded white envelope. He ripped it open and stared, open mouthed at the check in his hands. "I can't accept this. This is two million dollars!"

Elena smiled at him reassuringly. "He want's you both to have a nice start. And he's got more money than he knows what to do with. You can tell him thank you tomorrow." She laughed weakly from her spot on the couch. Ric nodded and took Jo's hand as they left the house.

She really hoped that they would take that money and get as far away from Mystic Falls as possible. Start a new life with their child.

"Well, even if we have to wait for Damon to wake up before doing this, why don't we at least discuss what has to be done. Matt, can you explain the spell?" Bonnie asked.

"First, you'd have to say Jaryakat a zem. Daryeet acza. That will passenger the person into the body. And then Vyjdi to activate the person to come forth." Matt explained, making sure to pronounce the words correctly.

"We still need a body for Elena to take over." Stefan pointed out. "Should I just grab someone off the streets in the meantime before we figure out something more permanent?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No, I'm sure that's not what Elena would want." She looked over at Elena for confirmation and she nodded. "We can use me. Until we find something more permanent." She could tell that Elena was going to argue so she put up her hand. "Please, I'd prefer it be me than someone else. You can respect that."

Elena shut her mouth.

Realizing there wasn't much else to discuss, Elena asked for a moment alone with her brother. Everyone vacated the room. She patted the cushion beside her, asking him silently to take a seat with her.

He sat and she held his hand.

"So, how's school?"

Jeremy laughed. "Really Elena?"

"Alright, no small talk." Elena laughed along with him, realizing that she was starting to feel a bit woozy.

"I can't leave Mystic Falls for a month without everything falling apart huh?" He asked, smiling over at her and squeezing her hand.

She shook her head and looked at the ceiling. "It appears that way." She rolled her head against the back of the couch and looked over at him. "I'm sorry. You know how much I love you right? If this doesn't work out then I want you to go back to school and do well for yourself. And maybe check in with Damon, Ric and Bonnie sometimes. They care about you just as much as I do."

"There's a lockbox, under my bed at school. I'd like you to go get it. I was making fun of Damon earlier because he had a will, but I have one too. I actually had one made when we were dealing with the Klaus situation. When your life is always in danger, it's really a good thing to have. That's in there. Along with some letters I wrote to everyone. If you could give them out, I'd really appreciate it. They're generic, since I wrote them a while ago, but I hope that-"

"Stop!" Jeremy demanded. "Why are you talking like this? You're going to be fine. We have a plan, so there's no reason to tell me all of this."

"I'm telling you this just in case Jeremy. It's important."

Jeremy left the couch and went to stand directly in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames. "Elena, even if you did die… Damon would move heaven and earth until he found you. We'll see each other again. So I would appreciate it if you wouldn't talk to me as if it's the last time you ever will."

Elena struggled to stand and she met him over by the fireplace, wrapping her hands around his neck. "Okay." She whispered, holding on to him.

God, when had her little brother gotten so big?

He held her just as tight and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Can you help me outside? There's something I need to do."

* * *

Caroline finished folding the last table cloth, alone with her thoughts. The talking from inside had quieted a while ago, leaving her to wonder what was going on now.

Should she feel bad that this was happening? Maybe on some level. She realized when she was outside before, cleaning up the buffet table, that when Tyler smashed through the windows, he'd definitely been aiming for her.

Elena had just been unfortunate enough to be standing in the way.

Well, she'd done her part and called both Klaus and Elijah so there was nothing else she could do now. And from what she'd heard from inside, they had a plan all worked out, AS USUAL, so she shouldn't have to worry about it.

Once again, the great Elena Gilbert was in danger and the troops rallied to save her.

Both Elena and Damon would be fine.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"Caroline?"

Lost in her own thoughts, she hadn't realized that Elena had snuck up on her. She spun around to face her former best friend.

Ugh, she should really change her dress, the "Carrie" look didn't really suit her.

"I hear you've got everything planned out?" Caroline said, putting the table cloth down on one of the tables. She leaned over and started folding up some of the chairs. "I'm glad for you."

"Seems like it." Elena answered softly.

Caroline could see a drop of sweat trickle down Elena's forehead and noticed that she was leaning heavily against the doorframe for support. She almost walked over to her with the chair she was holding.

Almost.

"Well, if there's nothing else I can do for you, I really have to finish up. I'm pretty tired, it's been a long day." Caroline said, starting on another chair.

"I just wanted to let you know, that I don't blame you for this. If one of these days, you turn your humanity back on, and I'm not around, you should know that I love you and I miss you." She clutched the wooden frame and used it to help her turn around to make her way back inside the mansion.

Before she could stop herself, Caroline spoke up. "Elena...I miss you too."

Elena turned her face and just smiled at her, before stepping back inside.

* * *

Stefan found her struggling down the hall, trying to make her way back to the living room. He picked her up and carried her back to the sitting room where everyone, except Damon, was waiting. "I think I hear Damon starting to move around up there." He told her, focusing his hearing upstairs. He heard some shuffling, and then a thud and a curse. Seemed like he was already having a hard time as a human. He shook his head, almost laughing

A human Damon was going to be a handful, he could already tell.

Elena looked up at him, eyes tired. "Thank you." She mouthed.

Stefan had been right, as she saw Damon enter the room after a few minutes. She used as much strength as she could to turn her body to face him. How did he manage to go through this twice? She felt like her insides were boiling.

He looked less than thrilled as his gaze swept over everyone in the room, finally landing on her. She hoped he wasn't going to be TOO mad at her for not stopping Enzo. As he moved closer she noticed his pink cheeks and that the hair at the nape of his neck had curled slightly.

She'd always wondered if he'd looked any less beautiful as a human and realized happily that he looked MORE beautiful as one.

"Why are you still you?" He asked, standing directly in front of her and running his hands through his hair. He felt strange, and he didn't like it.

"I wanted to wait for you to wake up." She said softly.

He rolled his eyes. "And they actually listened to YOU. It's just my requests that are ignored." She shrugged at him though he could tell that she wasn't sorry. Damon signed. He would have plenty of time to be mad at her later. They had other things to worry about. "Well, does this mean that we can get the show on the road?"

A chorus of "yes's" filled the room and he took a seat on Elena's right, wrapping his arm around her shaking shoulders, while Bonnie took a seat to her left. Matt sat on the coffee table directly in front of her.

Elena reached over and took Damon's hand, squeezing it gently. "I love you Damon." His head tilted down and their gazes locked. He could tell she was fading fast and didn't have much time left. Her profession of love was just wasting their time.

"Tell me again when you wake up." He said gruffly.

Elena nodded and removed her hand from his, moving them to rest on each side of Bonnie's face. She grimaced. "I passed out when Katherine did this to me, but it didn't hurt, I promise."

Bonnie smiled at her through tears. "I don't care if it hurts. And afterward, when we get you a new body, we can say we've shared everything from clothes to bodies. We'll be the closest best friends in the world."

Despite the severity of the situation, Elena laughed. How messed up was this?

Matt leaned forward and repeated the words from earlier.

Looking deeply into Bonnie's eyes, Elena spoke. "Jaryakat a zem. Daryeet acza."

Damon could feel Elena's body completely lock up in his arms and then go completely limp, her hands falling to her side and her head falling back onto his shoulder. He watched as Bonnie's eyes rolled up and Matt caught her before she fell forward off of the couch. His brain waged a war within. Did he let go of Elena's body and go to Bonnie or let Matt handle it?

He shifted so that Elena's body was leaning back against the couch and leaned over her to grasp Bonnie's shoulders. Thankfully she already seemed to be waking up. She moaned before opening her eyes, squinting up at him in confusion. "Elena?" He asked hopefully.

She shook her head and glanced over to Matt in confusion. "You have to complete it to pull her fourth." He explained again. " Vyjdi."

Bonnie waited. "It's not working." She said frantically "Vyjdi!" Maybe saying it on her own would work?

Again, nothing happened. She didn't feel any different. Bonnie looked up at Damon frantically. "I don't feel her."

Turning back to Elena, Damon took her shoulders and shook her. "Elena!" He shouted in her face. She didn't respond at all. "Don't do this to me right now, I swear…" He mumbled and was horrified to see her face graying. "BONNIE START THE SPELL YOU USED ON KLAUS, NOW!"

Without even a second passing, Bonnie began, not caring that it was dark magic, not caring that it could lead to her going down that path again. This was Elena. "Phesmatos Tribum, Nas Ex Veras, Raverus En Phesmatos Ex Sonos. Resistamus Et Veram Vatus. Raverus Phasmatos Ex Sonos!" She shouted.

As Bonnie started to say the words again, Damon clutched Elena's limp body against his own, realizing that there was a strong possibility that they were too late. He brushed the hair out of her face and saw that it had become completely grey.

"Baby, please wake up." He whispered into her ear, placing a kiss against her temple. He knew logically that she wouldn't. Even if Bonnie was able to get the spell to work, there was no way he'd ever see Elena's eyes open again. That didn't stop him from begging.

Bonnie sobbed out the spell again. "Damon…"

"No." He jumped off the couch, dislodging himself from Elena and paced in front of the fireplace. Spinning around, he pointed at Bonnie. "You start that spell again. MAKE it work!" He demanded.

Bonnie nodded, tears streaming down her face, as she started it again, this time taking Elena's grey hands into her own. Maybe the physical contact would help. She knew he was in denial, that Elena was gone, but she would try again.

Twenty minutes passed, Bonnie's chanting never stopped. Everyone in the room stood in silence, watching her.

They were in shock.

Their plans always worked, at least to some extent.

They couldn't fail now, could they?

When Damon saw the blood begin to drip from Bonnie's nose, he dropped to his knees. "Stop… just stop." He he whispered, defeated.

Lily moved toward him to offer some comfort but stopped when he looked up at her with hate filled eyes. "Stay far away from me mother." He hissed.

She nodded, her own eyes tearful as she zipped out of the room.

Stefan moved to take her place, kneeling down in front of Damon. "I'm sorry." He offered pathetically, not knowing what else to say.

Damon stood as quickly as his now human body would allow and smashed his fist into the wall next to the fireplace. He could feel the bones in his knuckles crack, but couldn't feel the pain. He took a nearby lamp and threw it into the wall, then upturned the table it had been placed on.

No one stopped him.

"What the hell is going on?!" Caroline exclaimed, speeding into the room. She looked around at the added destruction and at Damon, who's shoulders lifted and fell quickly. She could hear his racing heart from across the room.

She was about to yell at him for creating more of a mess when the furious look on his face registered with her. She looked at the others, standing rooted in their spots. Why were they just letting him destroy everything?

Her gaze then landed on Bonnie, and the grey body lying in her arms. Bonnie was holding Elena's head in her lap, her tears dripped onto Elena's face. "Bonnie?" She asked.

Bonnie only shook her head, answering Caroline's unasked question then looked back down at Elena and started playing with her hair.

Damon was about to destroy the liquor cart when he felt Stefan's arms wrap around his shoulders, stopping him. He spun around to face his brother.

Stefan had never seen his brother look so lost.

Or so empty.

"She wouldn't want this." Stefan said.

"She's dead brother." Damon's voice was cold. "She doesn't want anything anymore."

If Stefan didn't know that Damon had just been turned into a human, he would have guessed that Damon had flipped the switch. Maybe so many years as a vampire, having all that practice, had made it possible for him to do it. Even as a human.

"Don't ask me to live like this without her." Damon grabbed the front of Stefan's blood covered dress shirt, bunching it into his hands as he finally broke. "I can't live without her. Please…" He begged.

Stefan thought back to earlier, Elena begging him the same exact thing. And remembered what she'd asked him to do. He pushed down his own pain. At least he still had his brother. And he intended on keeping him around and taking care of him for as long as he was around.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, and looked into Damon's pleading eyes. Eyes so blue, tears running down his face.

He'd never seen his brother cry before.

Stefan's eyes dilated.

"Damon...you are going to live a long and happy life." Stefan compelled. "You came to Mystic Falls to spend time with your family and a few of your friends. You are going to be happy. You're going to meet someone special, fall in love and have the family you've always wanted."

"You are going to forget that Elena Gilbert ever existed."

* * *

**Don't hate me.**


	10. Chapter 10

**So, judging by the comments, you guys are mad LOL**

**Here's a little "teaser" for season 7. It's short. But it's something!**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 10**

The first thing that Elena became aware of, was a horrible cramping in her stomach and a pounding headache.

Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find herself in almost complete darkness.

Looking around the large bedroom, she tried to take in her surroundings.

A soft glow came from the large window across from the bed she was in, moonlight filtering through the curtains. She could see a quaint window seat and wondered if she was dreaming.

Was she back in her old bedroom?

Shakily, she lifted herself from the pillows, and peeled the comforter from her sweat covered body. Looking down at herself, she noticed she wearing a flowing white nightgown, her pale white legs poking out from the bottom.

Well, the dress definitely wasn't her style and her skin had never been the pale milky white that she was looking at right now. So the traveling must have worked.

But where the hell did she travel to?

And why did she feel so sick?

She struggled to move over to the side of the bed, placing her bare feet on the cold hardwood floor. She reached over to the bedside table and switched on the lamp next to her bed. It looked like the window seat had been the only similarity between her old room and the room she was in now. This room was much more elegant. The ceilings were high, a nice crown molding at the top where the wall met the ceiling met.

A Victorian mirror sat atop the cherry wood dresser on the other side of her bed, next to a door looking like it lead to an en suite bathroom. A red silk robe hung from a hook on the door.

Everything looked very neat and tidy, no clothes on the floor and no knick knacks or trinkets like she had in her old bedroom.

Her eyes blurred and her headache seemed to increase. Elena moved her hands to massage her temples and noticed light blond hair falling in front of her face.

She glanced around for a phone.

She needed to call Damon right away. She had no idea where she was and waking up in a house that had people she didn't know was the worst situation possible.

Although, she was glad that she didn't wake up next to someone. THAT would have been a little difficult to explain.

Her stomach cramped again.

God, what was wrong with her?

Or, what was wrong with this other person who she took over?

Was this just a leftover feeling from the werewolf venom in her old body?

She really had to look around and find a phone. She was sure that everyone back at the boarding house was probably freaking out about now. Hoping she could find one, she pushed herself off the bed and was surprised to find her legs just as weak as they had been before.

"Great, just great." Elena mumbled to herself, noticing that her voice was younger and softer than her old one.

She stumbled over to the dresser looking for a cell phone, but instead, found a blue velvet book, it looked like a diary. She snatched it up, hopefully it would give her a clue as to who she she jumped into.

Elena flipped through the entries, looking for the last one.

_Something awful is going to happen today__._

_It's all my fault. I'm so sorry._

The first sentence was slashed out.

"Well, that doesn't help."

Her eyes blurred again and Elena dropped the book, and she looked up at her reflection in the mirror.

Her hair a white blonde, sticking to the sides of her sweaty pale face. There were dark circles under her haunted dark blue eyes. It looked like this person hadn't been eating properly, as her cheekbones were pronounced.

Glancing back down, Elena noticed that there were two prescription bottles laying on their sides both of them with their tops off. She picked one up to read it but her eyes were too blurry to make sense of any of the letters.

It was obvious that whoever this girl was, she'd taken all the pills, said she was sorry and had laid down to die.

Elena was screwed.

Again.

Out of the fire and into the frying pan.

Frantically, she turned over the rest of the things on the dresser, looking for a phone, for anything that could help her. Finding nothing, she decided to do the only thing she could. Venture somewhere outside of the room and hope there was someone out there to help her.

Elena stumbled toward the door, little bursts of light clouding her vision as she fumbled with the knob and was finally able to pull it open.

She stepped forward, and her legs gave out, landing hard on her knees. "Help!" She shouted, hoping to get someone's attention. "Please!"

A door to her right opened and Elena sighed in relief until she noticed the little girl step out, holding a white stuffed cat. She was like a miniature version of the woman she saw in the mirror. Light blond hair, curious blue eyes and wearing a very similar nightie. She was staring at her curiously. "Why are you on the floor?" The little girl asked.

"Please, please go get help." Elena begged. Hoping that there was someone else in the house, someone older who could find a phone and call 911.

The little girl nodded, handing Elena her stuffed animal and running down the hall.

Elena dropped down so she was laying flat on the floor, closing her eyes. It was getting harder to breathe and maybe it would feel a little better if she was laying down. She was getting so sleepy. She held the cat tightly in her arms, and lay her head down on hardwood floor, the cold wood feeling good against her burning hot forehead.

_Damon_… she thought. She really wished he was here. Or that she could talk to him right now, in some way. She was worried about him and about what was happening in that house. Worried about what he would do if he thought she was dead. She hoped that Stefan would follow through with his promise.

"Elena?!"

Elena opened her eyes and tried to see the woman rushing toward her, but everything was dark. "Huh?" She asked in confusion.

"Elena, sweetheart, what happened?" She could feel the older woman brushing the hair back from her face.

How did this woman know who she was?

"I think… I think I took too many pills. I'm not sure." Elena was able to mumble out. She could feel tiny hands on the back of her shoulders and realized that the little girl was back.

"Honey, how many is too many?" The woman's voice got louder.

"I-I don't know." She admitted, wrapping her hands around her stomach.

"ROBERT! ROBERT! Call an ambulance!" The woman shouted. "Elena, are you able to open your eyes? Elena… stay awake for me okay? We're going to get help."

Elena's thoughts drifted a little, and she thought that the woman sounded so upset. "I'm sorry." She whispered. Whoever this woman was, she obviously cared about the girl whose body she took over. She thought back to that last diary entry. "I'm so, so sorry."

It was getting harder to stay awake and she knew the other people in the hallway were talking and trying to get her to respond to them, but she didn't understand what they were saying and she was past the point of caring.

Her last thought, was of him. At least he was going to be okay. Stefan would take care of him.

_Damon… I love you._

* * *

**So, I'm sure some of you realize where I'm going with this. **

**My intention starting this, was to FIX TVD. I know we all love Nina Dobrev. But there is a way to make Elena Gilbert stick around, without having Nina around. They should have done something about it considering EVERYONE body jumps on The originals. **

**I'm just bringing Elena back to ... well... HER original **

**Stick with me guys. I did warn you that it was going to get bad before it got better. But I promise that it's Delena endgame. And I promise I won't kill Jo (That was just disgusting on the writers part.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 11**

The room was completely silent, all eyes were on Damon as he stared blankly at his brother.

They watched, still in shock, as he pulled back his right arm and punched Stefan square in the jaw, with his already broken and bloodied fist.

Stefan stumbled back a few inches, taken by surprise, lifting his hand to touch his cheek. He glanced down and noticed the blood smeared on his fingers.

Damon was seething. "Do you think just because I've become human that I'm stupid? That I've forgotten how you and Elena operate?"

Stefan stared at him, bewildered. "How-?"

Damon rolled his eyes, clutching his hand against his chest. He may be pissed off and devastated but the adrenaline was starting to wear off and damn, it was starting to hurt. He held back a groan, not wanting to let anyone in the room know just how much pain he was in. Not wanting anyone to see him being weak.

So far, this human thing had been a BLAST.

"I took vervain before coming downstairs." He admitted. "I know you, brother and I know her too. I knew if you and Elena were alone for a minute you'd come up with some MASTER backup plan that I would never agree with, in case things went wrong. You all have screwed me over once tonight. I wasn't about to let it happen another time."

He turned away from Stefan, away from everyone, but avoided facing toward the couch. He just couldn't. "Fool me once brother…"

Stefan couldn't find it in himself to argue. It was the truth. He and Elena had plotted against him more than once.

He was about to apologize for his constant meddling when a crash from the basement caught his attention.

Obviously, Tyler had woken up.

Glancing back at his brother, he put a hand back on his shoulder. "I know you're pissed off and upset, but right now, we have to figure out what to do about the semi-awake werewolf that's locked in our cellar. Do you have any wolfsbane laying around the house?"

Damon shrugged Stefan's hand off of his shoulder and started on his way toward the cellar door. "Easy, I'll kill him. Problem solved."

Stefan quickly sped in front of him and held his arms out to stop him. "You're a human now. You can't go around killing people anymore!" He exclaimed

"Says who?" Damon scoffed, trying to get around him. Jeremy stepped up next to Stefan, effectively creating a wall to block him. "Really?" Damon asked.

Jeremy shot a quick look over toward Stefan, then let his gaze rest on Damon. He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. "I have a duffle bag filled with weapons in the truck, including wolfsbane, it's parked at the front of the driveway."

On the other side of the room, Bonnie wiped the tears from her face and adjusted Elena's body so that she was resting on the back pillows. She picked up both her friends grayed hands, and paced them neatly folded on her lap. Glancing at the engagement ring, she sadly brushed her thumb over it, trying to clean off the dried blood.

Getting up, she made her way over to stand behind Damon and put her own hand on his shoulder, hoping to show a little support. "Damon, let them handle Tyler for now while we come up with a plan okay? You need to calm down and not do anything drastic right now. Anything could have happened. We don't know if she's really dead. Everyone thought we were dead...and we weren't. So lets try to figure things out before we assume the worst." She said, trying to be the voice of reason and give him a little hope.

She felt his shoulders go slack beneath her touch, letting all the tension go. Glad to be at least some help, she squeezed his shoulder. "We should probably get you some ice for your hand." She said softly. She saw him nod and she slowly guided him out of the room and toward the kitchen.

Stefan stared over at Jeremy, thankful for the help. The last thing he needed was Damon going downstairs and trying to kill a werewolf. "Let's go get your stuff from the car."

* * *

The pounding headache was back, as was the stomach ache.

Adding to those annoyances, was a constant beeping that Elena was sure was going to drive her insane.

She slowly blinked her eyes open.

A dimly lit hospital room greeted her and she let out an audible sigh of relief. She wasn't dead. But who knows how long it had been since she'd fallen unconscious in that house. For all she knew, that could have been days ago. Glancing over, she began her search for a phone once again. She tried to see if there was one on the night table next to her hospital bed, and when she saw there wasn't, she painfully turned her body so she was facing the other way.

No phone.

But there was a woman sitting next to the bed, her arms were crossed and her head had fallen forward in sleep. She was snoring softly, her breath ruffling the grey hairs that were hanging loose from the messy bun atop her head.

A soft click behind her startled her and she slowly turned back over, toward the door. A nurse stepped in and smiled at her, looking relieved. "Elena! You're awake!"

Elena's throat was too sore to confirm verbally, so she nodded slowly instead.

The nurse nodded at her, understanding it must hurt and stepped up to the monitors on the side of Elena's bed. Elena watched as she checked over some vitals and noted them on the chart she had in her hand. When finished, the nurse looked over at her and smiled again. "You really worried Aunt Judith and Margaret. Margaret was so worried, she didn't want to leave but she finally passed out and Robert took her home." She whispered.

Elena stared at the girl confused. Was she supposed to know this nurse personally? She spoke to her as if she knew all of the members of this body's family.

When Elena didn't respond, the girl reached over and touched her face, a look of concern in her green eyes. "Elena….do you know who I am?"

Not knowing whether to lie or not, Elena finally shook her head.

The nurse took a deep breath and pulled away. "We were afraid of this. I'm going to get the doctor okay? I'll be right back." She pulled a cord from the side of the bed, it looked like a call button, and placed it next to Elena's hand. "If you need anything at all, just press this and I'll come running. We'll figure this all out, I promise." And with that, she silently slipped out of the room.

Elena wracked her brain for answers. Everything seemed so confusing. They knew her name, but they shouldn't know her. She stared down at her pale hands. She was definitely still in that other body that she traveled to, but why did they know her? And why didn't she know them? None of this made any sense at all.

She pushed her head back against the pillows and fought back tears. All she wanted to do was call Damon. He must be so worried at this point. She just wanted to hear his voice. She knew if he had any inkling of what was going on, he would come and take her away from this mess.

But would that be fair to this family?

Glancing back over, she stared at the woman sleeping next to her. She supposed this was the Aunt Judith who the nurse was talking about, and Margaret was probably the little girl she'd seen in the hallway.

Elena wondered if the reason she'd been sent to this body was because it was empty and wondered if that even made any sense at all. If she hadn't taken it over, the woman sitting beside her would be mourning the loss of her niece right now. The girl had meant to die, she wouldn't have gotten out of bed or tried to get help.

Did that mean she could take over this body permanently? She wouldn't have to worry about having to find someone else to take over. It wasn't like when Katherine took over hers, or when Matt had his body taken over. This girl had wanted to die.

But did that mean her body was up for grabs? Was that even morally right?

She briefly wondered if Damon would find this body attractive at all, and then realized how selfish that was. She was lucky to even be alive and have a body at all.

She wished she'd had more time to look at the diary entries before that last one. Maybe they could have given her some sort of clue as to why the girl had wanted to kill herself in the first place. A clue on how to fix things with this family before she disappeared with her own makeshift family back in Mystic Falls.

It felt like this entire thing was just a mess waiting to happen.

She thought back to just before the entire disaster had happened and stared down at her pale hand again. A hand that didn't have her engagement ring on it.

Just a few hours ago.. or what felt like a few hours ago… she'd been the happiest she'd ever been in her entire life. Everything had been perfect. Everyone was happy. It had finally seemed like everything was going to be okay.

She really should have known better. It was Mystic Falls after all. They'd let their guards down.

All she wanted was to get into a pair of her pajamas, crawl into Damon's huge comfortable bed and cuddle up beside him. She wanted to assure everyone that she was okay.

Exhausted, Elena closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

Caroline grabbed another trash bag and began pouring the glass from the dustpan into it. Everyone had pretty much disappeared to other rooms in the boarding house, dealing with their own problems but cleaning was her problem and she would be damned if she was going to leave the house a mess.

Damon certainly hadn't helped matters.

She sighed, sitting back on her heals. She should really find something else to wear, cleaning up the main room was going to be a huge job and her adorable blue lace dress was already destroyed. Little bits of glass were embedded into her stockings and while it didn't really hurt, the feeling of it grating against her skin was just a bit annoying. She stood, slipping off her heels and started peeling the stockings off, throwing them into the garbage bag.

Caroline took stock of the room. There was so much to do. She'd only just finished mopping up the blood from the floor and getting all of the stained glass up. She should probably toss the rugs, because she couldn't get the blood out of those, but she knew how neurotic Damon was about them, so she'd just have to wait until he was a little more stable before asking him what to do about them.

She still hadn't cleaned up the broken lamp or the table he'd destroyed.

Slowly, she made her way over to the couch where Elena was. Would taking care of her former friends body be under the description of "cleaning?"

To a vampire, probably. But she doubted the others would see it that way.

Not that she cared what they thought. But why do work when she didn't have to.

Right?

She plopped down onto the coffee table and leaned her chin on her hand, staring at her friend's body.

"Oh Elena, this wasn't supposed to happen." She sighed. "What happened to always having a plan to save you?"

"This is so STUPID!" Caroline said, slamming her fist down onto the table.

She heard the front door open and close behind her and quickly wiped away the tears that she suddenly realized were dripping down her face, trying to compose herself. Though she didn't turn around, whoever it was probably wasn't in the mood to chat with her.

Whoever it was, didn't need to know that she was so close to turning it back on.

What would be the point of turning it back on? She turned it OFF because her mother died, she wasn't about to come back now and have to mourn not only her mother but Elena too… along with all the other people she happened to kill in the last few weeks.

Nope.

Not gonna happen.

She could hear booted footsteps come into the room and stop directly behind her.

Whatever, she had nothing to say.

"Terribly sorry for the delay love. Usually I have impeccable timing. I see I may have shown up a little too late this time."

Caroline gasped, spinning around and staring up into crystal clear blue eyes.

"Klaus."

* * *

**So, I obviously failed at updating. I'm sorry for that. The last month has been so insane... that I wish that I could sleep for about 60 years LOL**

**I was working on this chapter when I posted the last one, I wanted to upload it that day. But shortly after I posted, I got a phone call that my cat (who was only about 7 months old) died after I dropped her off to get fixed. Which was just... absolutely horrible. Between that... a business trip that I planned to write on at the hotel I was staying at but APPARENTLY an internet connection is too much to ask for at a business HOTEL (I was on the phone with IT for about a total of 12 hours when they finally said, oh... its you... FYI it wasn't, they're just retarded... don't ever stay at the ALOFT in North Carolina if you want to get any work done) Being sick twice and trying to plan my cross country move... it's been a little bit insane?**

**I'm finally getting back into the groove now though, so I'm hoping to update once a week. I'm really sorry for the wait! **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you're happy that I didn't actually make Damon's memories go POOF. I would never do that, it would just be way too unfair. **

**Love you all. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Happy Birthday Elena Gilbert**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 12**

Damon hissed as Bonnie poured a generous amount of hydrogen peroxide over his scraped up knuckles. "Don't be such a baby." Bonnie muttered, trying to lighten the mood. "This is the only way I can get my kicks now. It's not like I can give you an aneurysm anymore, that would kill you instantly."

Damon only glared down at her in response.

They stood over kitchen sink, her attempting to clean his hand up using the giant first aid kit that he'd kept hidden in the pantry off the side of the kitchen. It really had everything you could think of in it. Sadly, nothing that would be helpful in mending the actual broken bones.

Bonnie tried picturing the great Damon Salvatore with a cast around his hand and almost laughed out loud. He was really going to have to get used to being human. He couldn't just go punching anything anymore. He wouldn't even have the luxury of taking some vampire blood to heal him, since the cure wouldn't allow something like that.

Now probably wasn't the time, but they were going to have to have a long sit down conversation about how he needed to think before acting in the future. Damon was always a bit of a hothead and he'd had over a hundred years of not having to worry about human injury.

She couldn't imagine, if they were able to get Elena back, having to explain to her that Damon was in jail or had gotten himself killed over something stupid.

WHEN they got Elena back, Bonnie scolded herself.

And they would get her back. She was sure of it.

If the past few years had taught her anything, it was that ANYTHING was possible.

She herself had died more times than she could count and she always managed to find herself back home.

She knew that almost all of those times, it was because Damon had fought hard to get her there. Even before they'd spent so much time together and had finally become friends when they were stuck in 1994 together, when he'd claimed to HATE her, he'd always found a way to find her. Whether it be coming up with a plan to fake her death and keep her hidden away safely, staying behind on an island to look for her or making deals with Silas behind everyone's back to bring her back from the dead, the first time… he'd always saved her.

Thinking back on it, he'd really done the same for everyone in their group. Everyone just refused to acknowledge it. She couldn't even begin to count the times that he'd gone out of his way to save everyone, Stefan and Caroline especially. It was a shame none of them ever thanked him.

He always claimed to be the bad guy.

She saw now though that he never really was.

"Bon, do you really think she's still alive somewhere or were you just saying that to stop me from killing that bastard downstairs?" He asked softly.

Bonnie glanced up at him. He wasn't looking at her, his gaze was trained on the softly dying fireplace across the room. She tugged on his wrist to make him look down at her. When he finally did, she could see how much it hurt him to ask her that.

She smiled softly up at him. "I really do. I felt SOMETHING happen when she said those words. And I wouldn't have passed out if nothing happened. It felt like she was going through me though, not in me. What I think we need to do is sit down and see if Ric was able to make any headway in finding out more about travelers. We were talking about it at the beginning of the week but with the wedding planning, I'm not sure if he had any time. Maybe a traveler needs to say the words to call her forth? Or maybe they know of a way to track down a someone who has traveled. Unfortunately I don't know any of those spells and I'm not sure if I could do any of them either."

Damon shrugged. "Marcos had mentioned in one of his prolonged and annoying speeches that there were more travelers around the world, or something like that. When he got to yapping, I tended not to listen."

"Maybe we could ask Caroline to call Elijah again. He's been around for a long time, he should know something." Bonnie suggested, pulling the gauze from the bin and wrapping it around his hand.

"No need, I'm just as good as my brother with things of that nature!"

Bonnie nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to see Klaus entering the kitchen, Caroline trailing behind him, a look of annoyance on her face.

Damon groaned. "Klaus, what a pleasant surprise...a little late though."

Klaus grinned at him in response, taking a seat at the dining table and kicking back to put his boots up. "My apologies. I've been having some issues on my own. I didn't realize I was to be on call for your constantly in peril band of misfits." He leaned even further back in the chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Obviously I should have been shipping my blood to you every few weeks so you could stockpile it. You do understand the irony of me being your group's personal hybrid bloodbag, don't you?"

He lifted a finger up in the air. "I haven't complained. Not even once."

Damon nodded. "Yes Klaus, you're obviously man of the year. Would you like a metal? Maybe a trophy? We could get it engraved with 'World's Most Generous Blood Donor.'"

Klaus laughed, shaking his head. "You should really be careful Damon. I've only come because the lovely Caroline asked me to. I hear your heart beating a mile a minute from all the way over here. It would only take a moment for me to snap your neck and for you to join your beautiful Elena in heavenly bliss."

Bonnie grabbed the back of Damon's shirt as he went to advance on Klaus. "Nope, get back here! Damon, you've got to stop." She begged.

Maybe that safety conversation was going to have to be pushed forward, she thought to herself.

Klaus threw his head back and laughed again, he was clearly more amused than he was angry. "Oh calm down, I'm not going to kill anyone. Damon, you should really listen to the witch." He shook his head. "I've become fond of all of you. You all manage to amaze me. Last I heard Bonnie, you were dead and so was Damon. Katherine had taken the only cure so I don't know how you managed to get another one. Did you come back as a human?" He asked curiously.

Caroline tapped her foot impatiently against the floor, annoyed with all of the questioning. "Can we just get down to it? Figure out how to get Elena back from the dead so I can finish cleaning up and go home. It's been a SUPER long day and I have GOT to get out of this dress."

Standing up, Klaus moved swiftly so he was standing in front of her. "I could help you with that love." He said softly, reaching up to touch her hair.

She knocked his hand away before he could. "Get a life Klaus. It's not going to happen."

"Oh, but it already did, don't you remember. I seem to recall you liking-"

"Shut UP!" She exclaimed.

He tilted his head to the side, staring deeply into her eyes. "You're different." He stated simply.

"Sweet Caroline decided to shut her humanity off when her mother dearest kicked the bucket a few weeks ago. She hadn't been quite herself." Damon said, relaxing against the countertop. While he did hate Klaus, he knew he would be a powerful ally while trying to help track down Elena.

He could play nice.

For now.

Bonnie elbowed him in the side.

Klaus looked down at Caroline, all trace of amusement gone from his expression. "I am truly sorry, I wasn't aware I'd her passing. I would have tried to come sooner if I'd gotten word about your mother. She was a very nice woman."

Rolling her eyes, Caroline huffed. "Of course she was. Compared to your mother, my mother was a saint."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Klaus sighed. "But, while I'd love to see a more evil version of you, I quite like the loveable and kind Caroline, so…" He stared deeply into her eyes. "You are going to turn your emotions back on and be the wonderful girl I fell in love with."

Caroline blinked.

Once.

Twice.

And stared at Klaus in disbelief. Tears immediately began to fall from her eyes. "Klaus… How could you do this?" She pressed her hands against her mouth, trying to block a sob from escaping. Her gaze slid over to Bonnie and Damon. "I'm so so sorry. Oh my God, this is all my fault."

Klaus wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close for support. "There there, dear. I'm sure it's not your fault."

"Oh, actually, it is." Damon interjected. "She was the one who turned Tyler back into a werewolf, and it was her he was trying to attack. Elena and I were just conveniently in the way."

Klaus's expression registered shock as he realized his mistake.

"Damon! I'm so sorry!" Caroline cried. Klaus squeezed her closer.

"I'm going to bring her home for the rest of the night...morning. No one is going anywhere I presume so we'll meet around noon tomorrow to discuss the next steps. Caroline, I promise...I'll find a way to fix this. I have plenty of witch friends back home. Rebekah is settling in at the old manor right now, she may be of some help as well." Klaus lifted her chin up so her teary eyes met his. "I assure you, we'll find a way."

Caroline wiped the tears away, her mascara smearing across her temple, but she didn't care. She only nodded as she let Klaus guide her out of the kitchen and out of the house.

Damon glanced down at Bonnie, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, I didn't see that one coming."

Bonnie shook her head, not knowing what to think. "Shut up Damon."

Shrugging, Damon looked over at the clock. "It's nearly six in the morning. You should get some rest."

Bonnie nodded. "You should too." She suggested softly, knowing that sleep was the last thing on Damon's mind.

He nodded just to set her mind at ease. "You can use any of the bedroom's upstairs. I don't know what the others are doing, I assume they are still trying to handle Tyler, but I haven't been able to hear anything. Which is INCREDIBLY frustrating by the way."

Laughing, Bonnie patted him on the shoulder before pulling away to close the first aid kit. "Yeah, get use to it, that's how us humans have to get by." She lifted the kit and walked into the pantry, placing it back on the shelf, then made her way to exit the kitchen. When she reached the door, she turned, holding onto the frame. "Good night Damon."

With that, she turned and left him.

He sighed. "Good night indeed…" He muttered.

It was the first time he had been left alone since waking up in bed as a human and it was strange. He hadn't been kidding when he said it was frustrating not to be able to hear anything. He should have been able to hear Klaus enter the house and approach and it made him very uncomfortable that he couldn't tell when there was a threat nearby.

But at the same time, it was peaceful. To him right now, the house was completely silent. Usually he could hear voices, or the creak of floorboards or the mattress box springs as Stefan tossed and turned all night. He was able to hear the little creatures outside and the sway of the tree's if the wind was blowing. Most nights, he could still hear the traffic from the road, even though their house was set back a ways.

Now, he heard nothing.

He pushed himself away from the counter and glanced down, noticing that Bonnie had left out a bottle of pain killers. He would definitely need those, his hand was throbbing like crazy. He would probably have to ask Jo to see if she could do something about it at some point tomorrow, but it wasn't his top priority at the moment. He read the directions and, with much difficulty, opened the bottle and shook out two pills.

Popping them into his mouth, he turned on the faucet and held his good hand under, letting the water fill up his cupped hand and took a quick sip, swallowing both the pills with ease.

With no other way to put it off, he made his way from the kitchen back into the main room, thankful that no one was around and stopped directly in front of the couch.

It might be crazy, and completely morbid, but there was no way that he was leaving Elena on the couch to be alone. He leaned forward and scooped her up, one arm under her legs and another behind her shoulders and lifted. Thankfully she'd always been petite and it wasn't too much for his now human body to carry her up the stairs. As he made his way up, he thought back to the last time he'd carried bodies when he was human. Some of them friends of his, much bigger than Elena, off of the battle field.

He shook his head to dispel the images that came to mind. He didn't need to be thinking of war right now.

Reaching his room, he kicked at the slightly open door and then kicked it again to close it behind him. He gently lowered her onto the bed and began stipping off her bloodstained dress, trying to remain as detached as possible. Trying to remember that she was probably somewhere else right now, safe. Maybe sleeping. And that she would call him tomorrow when she woke up and realized that she ended up somewhere completely different from where she thought she'd end up.

Hopefully she didn't wake up in bed with another man.

He stripped off his own bloodied suit and went to the bathroom to start the bath water running. He'd tried to get off as much blood as possible before he'd gone downstairs earlier, after he'd taken the vervain, but he still felt sticky and disgusting. As he waited for the water to heat up, he moved back toward the bed and picked Elena up again, being careful to not use his broken hand.

Moving back into the bathroom, he placed her into the bath, wanting to wash her off first. He didn't get in with her, just sat on the edge of the tub as he used a hand towel to wipe the blood from her skin and wash it out of her hair. He took extra care to clean around the setting of her ring, as the blood had dried in the crevices of the setting.

After shampooing and conditioning her hair, and rinsing it out, he left her for a moment to tear off the dirtied sheets. He didn't bother putting new ones on, just threw on a new comforter. There was no way he'd be able to get a fitted sheet onto the bed with only one hand available.

He scooped her up from the bath and dried her off the best he could before slipping her in her favorite robe and placing her back in bed.

Letting out the red water, he decided against a bath for himself and quickly jumped into the shower, washing away the disaster of the day, trying to push away all his thoughts and just clear his head of everything. He didn't, no… he couldn't think of anything right now.

He dried himself off and threw on a pair of silk boxers, turned off the lights and slipped into bed beside Elena.

With the lights off, he could barely see her. He couldn't see the grey tint to her skin. It looked like she was sleeping beside him, like she always was.

He reached over and pushed a stray wet hair behind her ear. "I'm going to find you." He whispered in the dark, to no one.

Only then did he finally let himself feel anything.

Damon wrapped his arm around her, not caring that his hand hurt, he squeezed her tightly against him and lay his head on her chest. He wished that he could hear her heart beating. And he wished that her body wasn't so cold against his.

They should be celebrating their engagement right now. He shouldn't be wondering if he'd ever see her again. They should be talking about their human future together. When they wanted to have the wedding, how many kids did they want to have, if they wanted to move somewhere far, far away from Mystic Falls.

What was the point of a human life, if it wasn't going to include her?

He finally let the tears that he'd been holding back, fall.

"I won't stop looking Elena. Even if it takes the rest of my human life, I'll never stop looking."

* * *

**So, I meant to say "Happy Birthday TV Damon Salvatore" along with my last update. Because I purposely updated that day for a reason, but completely forgot to edit that in there LOL. Oops. **

**I went to start season one the other day, just to bring myself good old memories of when things were good, and I held disk one in my hands and I couldn't even get it into the damn dvd player. Isn't that sad? I'm still just so disgusted that they are continuing on with this. They gave us such a shitty last season and it's upset me beyond words which is just so stupid. **

**It was in July of 1994, that I picked up The Vampire Diaries for the first time. I read LJ Smith's The Forbidden Game first.. fell in love with Julian. Then I read Dark Visions.. and fell in love with Gabriel. Then I read The Vampire Diaries... and fell in love with Damon Salvatore. (Hell... I guess I've just always fallen in love with the "bad guys.") So next month marks my 21's year of loving this series. I was 11 years old, and wanted nothing more than to be Elena Gilbert. **

**When I found out that they were making a television series a trillion years later, I almost flipped out. And when they continued the books, I freaked. It was so much a part of me growing up that as an adult, I felt like a teenager again. **

**For them to take away Elena Gilbert... it's just wrong. On so many different levels. Sure... it's also about the brothers coming back together after 500 years of hating each other (500 years in the book) but it's NOT a story about them. It's about ELENA. **

**Taking her away, means there is no story to me anymore. **

**Sorry for my rant. I don't have anyone to rant to about this IRL. LOL Except my poor husband who hates the series and never read the books. **

**Blah. **

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you thought! More to come soon. **


	13. Chapter 13

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 13**

Words like "Brain damage" and "suppressed memories" are what woke her up. She didn't dare open her eyes, but she was able to hear bits and pieces of hushed conversation somewhere in the room that she was sleeping in.

Her stomach didn't hurt like it did before. And she was oh so thankful that her head wasn't pounding anymore. It had been downgraded to just a dull, manageable ache.

Elena tried to focus in on the two adults talking. It was clearly a doctor along with who she thought may have been the woman called Aunt Judith.

"We'll be able to run some tests after she wakes up again. I'd like to talk with her beforehand. We don't know if we're dealing with brain damage having been caused by the overdose of drugs, or if Elena is having problems her memory because she's suppressing them." Said a low male voice.

Elena could hear the woman sniffling. "Mary said she didn't know her. Is it possible that she was confused since she just woke up?"

There was a long pause before the doctor spoke again. "It's possible. But even before she woke up, I'd warned you that there might be some issues. She took a good cocktail of drugs. I believe you said that your husband found two empty bottles of her regular prescribed medicine in her bedroom and also some other drugs in the bathroom?" Another pause. Elena assumed that Judith had either nodded or shook her head because the doctor continued. "We won't know anything for sure until we do some brain scans and she speaks to a psychiatrist."

Elena felt something beside her on the bed shift, and then a small hand on her face. Startled, Elena opened her eyes to see the little girl, Margaret was it?, leaning over her. She must have slept for quite a while if the girl was back.

Margaret's eyes lit up as their eyes met and she leaned even closer. "Hi." She whispered.

Clearly the little girl realized that Elena didn't want to disturb the conversation going on. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Judith was talking to the doctor on the other side of the room, by the door and they weren't aware that she was awake yet.

"Hi." Elena whispered back, smiling at the girl.

"My name is Margaret." The little girl said softly, amusement dancing in her blue eyes. She leaned back a little bit, but took Elena's hand in her own and held it. Elena noticed that Margaret was holding the white stuffed kitten in her lap. She was obviously very attached to the animal and Elena was happy that she'd shared it with her when she needed comfort in the hallway.

Shocked that the little girl was introducing herself, Elena almost laughed. She couldn't be more than four years old, yet she understood that she was having memory problems? She must be very smart for her age. Or she just looked much younger than she really was.

Deciding to go with the flow, Elena responded. "I'm Elena."

Margaret slapped a hand over her mouth so she her giggle wasn't too loud to disturb the adults in the room. "I know that silly." She whispered back.

Shrugging, Elena smiled back. "Sorry. I'm having problems remembering."

Her expression turning serious, or as serious as it could for a girl her age. Margaret tilted her head to the side as if inspecting Elena. "No you're not."

"Oh! Sweetheart, you're awake!"

Elena's attention turned to Judith who was making her way toward the bed. Judith must have sensed her alarm, or her confusion, and stopped before giving her a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm just so glad that you're alright. The doctor said that you may have problems remembering some things. How are you feeling?"

Slightly overwhelmed, it took a moment for Elena to respond. "I still have a little bit of a headache, but other than that, I feel okay." She assured Judith.

The woman reached out and took the hand that Margaret wasn't holding, careful not to disturb the IV taped to her hand. "I'm so glad. Elena… Do you know who I am?"

And there it was.

Should she lie and say that she did know that her name was Aunt Judith and pretend that everything was okay, just to get out of the hospital?

Or go with the story of losing her memory?

Maybe if she lied, and then said she was tired, they would leave her alone and she could sneak out of the hospital, find a phone and then call Damon. But if they stayed and made her talk to a psychiatrist first, then she would be screwed.

Judith was anxiously waiting for an answer so Elena decided to just wing it.

"I'm sorry, I'm just feeling really confused right now. I know you're my Aunt Judith. And I know that this is Margaret." She squeezed the little girls hand. "But I can't seem to remember anything else right now."

When Elena saw Judith's disappointed expression, she almost wanted to take back her words, but didn't know how. There was nothing she could do to make this situation any easier for the woman.

The doctor stepped closer to the bed and held out a hand for Elena to shake. "Hello Elena. I'm Doctor Verbodanin. I'll mainly be in charge of your care during your stay here, along with Mary, the nurse that was here earlier, and a few other nurses. Can you tell us what you do remember?" He asked.

Elena dislodged her hand from Judith's, not wanting to let go of Margaret's, and shook the doctor's hand. "I remember waking up in my room and realizing that I'd made a mistake and trying to go for help. That's pretty much it."

The doctor nodded and made a note on his chart. "Okay then. It's pretty early right now, but I'm going to schedule a few tests for you and we'll call in your regular psychiatrist to come for a visit to see if we can get to the bottom of things." He looked up toward Judith. "Have you contacted her yet?"

Judith nodded, taking her seat next to Elena's bed. "Yes, I left Nancy a message last night. She hasn't gotten back to me yet though. There was a strict agreement that Elena signed when she first started seeing her, that if she were to ever hurt herself, Nancy wouldn't be responsible for her care afterwards so we may need to have someone else come in. Is that possible?"

Verbodanin patted Judith on the shoulder and smiled softly down at her. "Of course, we have quite a few on our own staff, or you can decide on someone from outside. We'll be more than happy to work with you and with Elena for the best care." He focused in on Elena again. "Do you have any questions, or anything that you need?"

Figuring that she had nothing to lose, Elena perked up. "Could I get a phone in my room?"

The doctor shook his head. "Right now, you're at level one. You're not allowed to have a telephone."

Confused, Elena shook her head. "Level one?"

Judith leaned forward and recaptured Elena's hand in her own. "Honey, since you tried to… hurt yourself, this isn't the regular hospital ward. You're going to be staying in a special area of the hospital until we make sure you're feeling better."

"We'll be moving you into a new room, where you'll have a roommate, after we get all of your testing done." The doctor chimed in. "If you show improvement, then you'll move up levels and be granted more privileges. You'll be able to use the pay phone in the recreation hall when you reach level three. Once you're moved, Mary or one of the other nurses will be able to explain all of the levels' to you."

Elena threw her head back onto the pillows behind her. She couldn't believe this was happening. "So I'm in a mental institution?" She questioned.

"No, no sweetheart. It's the regular hospital, just a special floor for people who are troubled. I'm sure you'll do great and we can get you out in no time. But with your history, we just want to make sure that you're going to be okay." Judith assured her, stroking the back of Elena's palm with her thumb.

"History?" Elena asked. She may as well try to get as much information as possible.

Judith exchanged a quick look with the doctor and he nodded as if giving her the okay to speak. "Honey, when your parents died-"

"My parents are dead?" Elena broke in, shocked. What were the chances of that? Although, she should have known, since it had only been Judith in the house and Mary hadn't mentioned her parents being worried at all. She just hadn't given it much thought.

Judith looked over at Margaret and their eyes met. Margaret didn't say anything, however she lay down on Elena's side and cuddled up, putting her head on her shoulder. Meeting Elena's gaze again, she tried to explain. "Three years ago, you were in a car accident with them and Margaret, she was just an infant at the time. Your father was driving the car and you spun off the road. Your parents were killed almost instantly, but you and Margaret were stuck in the car for a few hours before help arrived." She stopped speaking and grabbed a tissue from the box on the nightstand to dab at her eyes.

"You were conscious when the paramedics were able to get you out, but you fell into a coma for a about a week after that, from the trauma. When they found you, you kept saying that the accident was your fault and you haven't been the same since then. I moved in and took custody of you and your sister. You went through a few therapists since then and finally connected with Nancy. You were having problems with anxiety and a bit of paranoia. You just kept saying that the accident was your fault." Tears dripped down her face and she tried wipe them all away with her tissue. "I thought you were doing better."

Three years ago?

How was that even possible?

Elena wracked her brain. Three years ago SHE was in a car accident, HER parents died. What were the chances that the girl she hopped into had the same thing happen to her at the same time?

And they shared the same name.

What the hell was going on?

Not knowing how to respond, Elena squeezed Judith's hand. "It's okay now. I'm okay." Judith just nodded in response. "I'm really tired though. Could I get some sleep before we do any of the testing?"

Judith nodded and leaned out of her chair to finally give her a hug. Elena held her close with one arm, holding her tight. Eventually, she pulled away and gave her a teary smile. "I know you'll be okay. You're so strong. Margaret, say goodbye to your sister, we're going to go home for a little while."

Elena felt Margaret's grip tighten around her belly. "I want to stay here." She argued. "I want to meet Elena."

Doctor Verbodanin smiled down at the girl. "You can come back at another time, your sister has to get some rest. If you step outside, one of the nurses will give you a lollipop."

Amused, Elena watched as Margaret's face scrunched up. It looks like she wasn't happy with the bribe. "No thank you." The little girl said.

Margaret turned back to Elena and gave her a hug. "You can keep my kitty safe for me. I'll be back soon and we can get to know each other."

Moving around the bed and picking up Margaret, Judith laughed. "Honey, I'll try to explain it to you a little better when we get home. Elena isn't a different person, she just doesn't remember a few things. She's still the same old Elena." Judith leaned over and gave Elena a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you in a little while. Get some rest."

Elena nodded and watched as the three left the room. Margaret stared at Elena over Judith's shoulder until the door closed behind them.

Maybe the little girl was more mature because she'd lost her parents so young, Elena thought to herself. But she could swear something was different about her. If she'd been an infant at the time, and Judith had raised her along with her husband, then would she really know the difference between them and her dead parents? Elena wasn't so sure.

She'd met young children before. None of them had seemed as aware, or as well spoken as Margaret.

Sighing, Elena decided to put those thoughts away for the moment. There were more important things to worry about. Like how she was going to get word to Damon and the other's that she was okay.

If she was really in a mental ward of a hospital, there was no way she was going to be able to sneak around as if it were a regular hospital. There would be cameras and orderlies everywhere. Hopefully there were other phones in the ward beside the one in the rec room. And if that were the only phone, hopefully it wasn't one that was being recorded. She couldn't imagine that conversation going well if it was overheard by someone.

Glancing around the room, she tried to find anything that would help and noticed for the first time that the room had no window at all. And no clock. She had no idea what time it was, though the doctor had said that it was too early to schedule any tests so it couldn't be that late in the day. The question was, how many days had it been?

She tried to imagine what was going on back home and was terrified by the thought. Damon would be going out of his mind and hopefully they'd figured out at least that she'd gone SOMEWHERE…

Maybe they'd found a way to track down where she'd travel to and they'd break into the hospital and save her.

It was a nice thought, but Elena had a feeling that she was on her own. For now.

Elena pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Maybe she could ask that nurse Mary for a phone. The young woman seemed to know her personally, outside of the hospital, so maybe she would take pity on her and lend her a cell phone for a few minutes.

Though she couldn't figure out how to word that conversation…

"Oh, Mary… could you please lend me your cell phone? I know I have amnesia and everything, but I do remember one phone number so I need to call it."

She'd have to figure out some excuse to give, but really was too tired to think of something right now.

Lowering her hand from her face, she looked down and noticed a plastic admittance bracelet on her wrist. That would at least tell her what day she got there, but not what day it was now.

But she couldn't focus in on the date, after she saw what else was written there.

Elena could hear the heart monitor pick up as she panicked. It didn't make any sense, not any sense at all.

She stared down in horror at the words typed as clear as day on the bracelet.

"Elena Gilbert"

* * *

**Not really feeling the love lately :( Hope you're still enjoying.**


	14. Chapter 14

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 14**

After hours of watching Tyler and re injecting him with darts of wolfsbane, Jeremy was ready to pass out.

He'd been driving around the United States for weeks, but he couldn't let the others know that, not yet at least. He'd been lucky that he was so close to Virginia when he'd gotten the message from Elena about the wedding, though he'd been in a crappy cell reception area and hadn't gotten service until he reached a town. And when his phone didn't have service it didn't like to alert him of any missed calls or any new messages. It had been pure dumb luck that he'd accidentally pressed the voicemail button when he was looking for directions and her voice had come out of the Bluetooth speakers of the car.

He really needed to talk to Damon about getting a better cell phone plan. Maybe he could convince him to get a satellite phone.

Jeremy had a feeling though, that it was a conversation that should be left for a better time.

He shuddered to think about what would have happened if he hadn't gotten that message and hadn't come right away.

As he sat on the floor opposite the reinforced door to one of the Salvatore's many cells, he let his head fall back against the hard stone wall. Stefan and Enzo were standing on each side of the door, playing bodyguard, each with their arms crossed over their chests. Jeremy watched them curiously. They weren't fighting. They weren't saying much of anything but every once in a while, Jeremy would catch them sending a weird look each other's way.

He wondered what that was all about.

But he was too tired to ask. He knew little of what had been going on before he left. Matt had told him Enzo was up to no good, as usual, and that he was messing with everyone, especially Stefan. But there didn't seem to be any ill will toward him right now.

Which he was eternally grateful for.

Seeing that Jeremy was dozing off, Stefan checked his watch. "Jer, you should go upstairs and get a little sleep at least." He said softly.

Deciding the vampire was right and that they could both handle things if Tyler was to wake up again, Jeremy nodded and stood up, stretching the kinks out of his neck and back. He handed over the dart gun and patted Stefan on the shoulder, not saying a word. Sending a quick nod over to Enzo, he started up the stairs.

"I think I heard Bonnie go into the room across from Damon's if you wanted to go join her." Stefan called up to him.

Jeremy said a quick thank you as he reached the main floor. The house was eerily silent after all the commotion earlier and it made him feel uncomfortable to raise his voice. He wandered up the main stairs toward Damon's room and considered checking in on his brother-in-law to be, but quickly changed his mind. If he was awake, he wouldn't be interested in seeing him.

Standing outside Bonnie's door, he was conflicted. She obviously didn't want to see him or talk to him, otherwise she wouldn't have left him that ridiculous message when she finally made it back from the dead. He'd called her back several times after she left it and she'd sent each one of his calls straight to voicemail.

But he really needed to see her right now, so he took a deep breath and tried to open the door as quietly as possible.

Sure, he'd seen her earlier, in her pretty dress covered in his sister's and Damon's blood, tears rolling down her face. But there wasn't really time to SEE her. To talk to her.

The sun was beginning to rise and peak through the curtains on the far side of the room. He could see Bonnie curled up tight under the covers and could only make out some of her hair that poked out from the top. She didn't used to sleep that way, all curled in on herself. Thinking back on the times they'd spent sharing the same bed, he always remembered that she took up most of it, sprawled out and almost kicking him out of it.

He missed sharing a bed with her.

As Jeremy made his way over to the bed and sat softly on the mattress next to her, trying not to wake her, he wondered if that was something that had started when she was locked away in another time. He glanced around the room, looking at anything but her. He'd stayed in it a few times, back when they'd been a happy little family, in the few summer months of peace that they had together. He'd quickly picked a different room as far away from Damon and Elena as possible.

There were just some things that a little brother should NOT hear.

There had been a little dust back then, as the room hadn't been used in a while. But now, he noticed, the comforter smelled like it was freshly washed and all the furniture had been nicely polished.

Jeremy knew without a doubt, that Damon had taken the time to clean it. He pictured him staying up at night in the house, all alone, back from the dead and without Elena having any memory of him, and cleaning.

He knew it must have meant that this was Bonnie's room, when they were trapped together. And that he'd been cleaning it, thinking about her still stuck there. Maybe hoping one day that she would be back to use it.

Lost in thought, he almost didn't notice that the comforter had dropped a little and Bonnie's eyes stared up at him. "Hi." She said, her lips twisting up into a small smile.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I just wanted to see for myself that you were okay." He said, running his hands through his hair nervously. Now that she was awake, and they were alone, he didn't know what else to say to her.

Bonnie shifted in the bed and picked up the blanket, urging him without words, to get under the covers with her. Jeremy kicked off his boots and slid in, not touching her.

"I wasn't really asleep, too much on my mind." Bonnie admitted.

Reaching over, she took his hand in her own and laced their fingers together. "I'm okay though. How are you doing?"

That was a loaded question, he thought.

"Okay?" Jeremy shrugged.

Bonnie tilted her head and looked at him disbelievingly. "You want to try again?"

Leaning his weight onto the pillows, he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb absentmindedly. "I'm not sure. My sister is dead. Maybe. But we've seen people die and come back so many times, that I think I may be a little desensitized. There's nothing that Damon won't do to get her back. So I just have a feeling like everything is going to be okay." He glanced down at her. "Does that make any sense at all?"

Bonnie laughed softly. "It makes perfect sense. Between all of us, I've lost count how many times we've all come back from the dead. I think you have us all beat though, honestly." She stared down at their joined hands. "I was telling Damon earlier, that I don't think she's dead. I really don't. I'll do anything to get her back too. You know that right?"

"Unfortunately, I do know that." Jeremy said with a grimace. "You've got to make sure you don't go dying again in the process though. Please no more of the trading your life for other's bullshit, we can get past that, can't we?"

Bonnie winced. "I can't promise that. It's not who I am."

Jeremy was tired before, but now he was wide awake. "I don't understand why you feel the need to go sacrificing yourself every damn time."

"Jeremy, I just want everyone to be happy! You need your sister, Damon needs Elena.-"

"Why don't you actually ask me for once, what and who I need, instead of making assumptions Bonnie?" Jeremy shouted, not caring if any of the vampires in the house heard. "You've never given any actual thought into asking me that before have you?" When Bonnie clearly had no answer for him, he continued. "I need YOU. That's the bottom line. I trust Damon to do whatever he can to get Elena back and he WILL, so why don't you stay out of it this time and don't put yourself at risk?"

"Would it be SO horrible for you to think about your own happiness, just once?" Even though he could see the tears well up in her eyes, he kept going, hoping to somehow get through to her. "Unless, of course, you don't give a shit that some people don't really want to live without you? Are you so blind to the fact that we love you too and that your life as just as important as the rest of ours?"

"Stop Jeremy…" Bonnie begged, pushing herself out of the bed and toward the window.

"What? You don't want to tell me the truth?" He stopped himself from following her, but wasn't completely immune to the fact that she was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts. God, was he a pervert or what? Sure it had been a while, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Here he was trying to have a serious conversation with her, even though it wasn't exactly planned, and all he could do was stare at her beautiful long legs.

Bonnie sighed, watching the sun rise over the trees on the far side of the property. It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day. She knew she shouldn't take any nice days for granted, but right now, with everything going on, she couldn't appreciate it at all.

"I just want you and Elena to be happy. You've both been through so much." She whispered softly, rubbing the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

Jeremy groaned, he clearly wasn't getting through to her. It was the same old song and dance, it's not like they hadn't fought about it before in the past, when they'd first started dating. Hell, even before they'd started dating, it was something they fought about. "But why should that cost you your own? I'm sorry, but I just don't understand. You've lost just as much as we have in all of this."

It took a long time for her to answer.

"You know… a long time ago, Elena and I were at a party. And… I saw something, when I touched her."

Rolling his eyes, Jeremy sat up in the bed. "Yeah, a crow. Elena told me. She thought it was adorable when she realized that it was Damon you were seeing and thought that they were meant to be."

Bonnie shook her head and turned around. "No. It was before long before that."

"Elena had gotten into a fight with Matt and I was trying to be a good friend, but I was really drunk so I wasn't much help. She was about to call your parents to come and pick her up and I grabbed a hold of her arm to steady myself and the only thing that ran through my head was 'Elena, don't go to the bridge. It's Death Elena. You're death is waiting there.' It kept running through my head over and over and over, and I thought I was going crazy. I never said it out loud though. She helped me over to a tree stump, made sure that I had a ride home and said she was leaving and I just never said anything!" Now the tears were falling and there was no way she could stop them. "Don't you SEE Jeremy? If I had just said something, you WOULDN'T have lost so much that night. It's all my fault. You're parents were like my own, they took care of me when my father was out of town, they cared for me like I was their own daughter... and I could have stopped them from dying."

Jeremy stood from the bed, finally calm and approached Bonnie. "This whole time you've been trying to make up for something that was in no way your fault?" Bonnie only looked up at him tearfully. She didn't need to confirm it, he already understood. He lifted his hand to wipe away some of her tears. "You know, Elena dealt with a lot of survivor's guilt after that. I may have been high and stupid most of the time, but I did notice. I think that's why she also had a death wish, she always thought she was living on borrowed time." He said thoughtfully. "I wish you'd mentioned something earlier."

"I felt too horrible about it. I could have saved your parents Jer, and I did nothing."

Jeremy shook his head. "No. Listen, there are several things wrong here. First off, if you had said something that night… she would have gone anyway. We didn't know anything about the supernatural then. You didn't know you were a witch. Your grams only told you about it the summer after. So there's no reason you should have said anything. Elena would have thought you were just crazy drunk and needed some sleep. Plus, you were right, Elena's death WAS waiting for her on that bridge… but not that night. You can't go blaming yourself for something you couldn't have stopped."

He pulled her over to the bed and onto his lap, gathering her up in his arms. "I'm only going to say this once, so please listen to me." He said, stroking her hair back behind her ear. "If my parents hadn't died that night, they would have died another night. They were a part of the council, they would have been caught up in everything too. Just like John and Isobel. Just like Jenna and the dozens more that died. I'm almost glad they died a normal death, before all this garbage started happening. Trust me, drowning isn't the best way to go, but I would prefer to know they died that way instead of being tortured by one of our many enemies." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "So please, stop blaming yourself and start to live your life for you. I just hope that I can be included in that."

Bonnie tearfully smiled up at him. "Okay." She reached up and pulled his face down so their lips met.

Jeremy snapped his head back quickly and at Bonnie's confused face he started laughing. "I'm sorry. I just want to make sure… are you POSITIVE that Elena's not in there somewhere? Because.. that would be strange and she'd never let me live it down."

Bonnie's cheeks turned pink. "Yes, I'm SURE. You're disgusting." She smacked him on the shoulder lightly. "Jeremy, just kiss me."

"Gladly."

* * *

**So, now we have Bonnie's crazy reason for always sacrificing herself. **

**I'm so excited... my best friend, husband and I are going on one last East Coast road trip (As we'll be moving across country in Feb) and where are we going? The great Mystic Falls. I've been there twice a few years ago, before they actually had Mystic Grill, so obviously I have to head on back there and actually eat in the joint right? We're also going to do The Vampire Diaries tour and The Originals' tour. My husband tried to get me to agree that he could stay in the grill and day drink while I went on the tour, but that's not happening. I've already told him that he has to kiss me in front of the Gilbert house and in the Delena rain kiss spot, sucks for him! LOL Then we're heading down to Florida for Halloween Horror Nights. I just wish it was October already! **

**My other friend made me promise not to yell or throw things at the cast if they are filming. **

**He's no fun. **

**Have any of you readers ever gone there and done the tours? **


	15. Chapter 15

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 15**

* * *

With the drop of the medical files on the desk in front of her, Elena's head snapped up to attention.

"Well, the good thing is that there appears to be no signs of brain damage." Dr. Verbodanin said, taking a seat behind the desk. Elena glanced over at her "Aunt" who had a positive smile on her face and was nodding hopefully at the doctor. She looked frazzled, but better than she had that morning. Aunt Judith had been back in the room with her when she'd woken up and had come with her while taking all the scans.

"So, what's the next step?" Judith asked, reaching over and placing a hand on top of Elena's.

Dr. Verbodanin leaned back in his chair and picked up a pen to fiddle with. "Well, we'll start with some medication, see if that works for some of the anxiety-"

"I don't feel like I have any problems with anxiety right now. I'd like to not be put on anything." Elena interjected, hoping that she would have some say in all of this. "I feel okay now."

The doctor shook his head. "That's really up to your Aunt. We feel that you would do best taking a few things right now, at least while you're here. We couldn't get in touch with your regular psychiatrist, so one of the doctors here will be meeting with you later today. Once you start therapy you may start to remember things, and with the medication, it may make it easier for you to digest things as they come back."

Elena sighed, leaning back in the wheelchair she'd been wheeled in on. While she was thankful that she had it earlier, the nurses had told her not to get up from it and wouldn't let her do anything on her own. From being a vampire with super strength one day to being treated like someone who would break, was beyond frustrating and she just wanted to get out. The whole situation was ridiculous.

She just wanted to go home.

Judith squeezed her hand. "Honey, medication will be good for you. They only have your best interest at heart."

Elena wanted to roll her eyes and ask her if the medication they'd put her on before helped at all, but kept her mouth shut.

"When we get out of here, I'll show you around the facility and introduce you to your new room mate. If you have any problems with her, just let the nurses know and we can probably find another spot for you somewhere else." He rocked forward in his chair and stood, running a hand through his hair before holding his hand out toward the door. "Your Aunt is right Ms. Gilbert, we really do have your best interest at heart and we'll be doing everything possible to see that you get out of here as soon as you're feeling better."

But I feel fine… Elena thought.

Judith stepped up from behind her and unlocked the wheels to the chair, pushing her to the door and past Dr. Verbodanin as he opened the door for them. The hall was quiet, with only a few nurses talking to each other at the nursing station. As they passed, Elena noticed that one of them was Mary and she sent her a quick wave, hoping to look as normal as possible. Mary just smiled back and continued talking to her coworkers.

They reached a large area with several couches scattered around the room and an old box television set up in the corner, the doctor spoke. "This is the rec room. You can watch television and they have a few older game systems set up that you can play. And to the right is a pay phone. When you reach level three, you can ask the nurses to give you a few quarters so you can call home or one of your friends."

Elena wasn't really paying attention, just staring as she saw a mop of black hair over the side of one of the couches. Which instantly made her think of Damon. Whoever it was, was laying down on their side and currently watching the cartoons playing on the television.

As she was staring, the black hair moved and a little face popped up over the top of the couch. The little boy couldn't have been over seven or eight years old and his large ice blue eyes almost swallowed up his entire face. He looked at her curiously over the back of the couch.

Elena smiled at him and his head came up a little more as he straightened a little more and leaned against the back of the couch. His face was pale but there was a little blush beginning to grow across the tops of his cheeks as he smiled back at her. He reminded her of the last time that she saw Damon, with his newly human blush. Elena thought he was adorable and wondered how he had ended up in a place like this.

Dr. Verbodanin, noticing the exchanged, let out a laugh. "Damien, come on over and meet Elena."

Startled at the similarity in the names, Elena's eyes widened and she watched as the little boy fell out of sight for a minute before coming around the side of the couch and walking toward them. He stopped in front of the wheelchair and held out his hand. Elena took it and he smiled at her, shaking it vigorously. "I'm Damien. Nice to see you Elena."

"It's very nice to meet you too Damien." Elena said, keeping her voice light. Seeing this little boy, his resemblance to the man she loved, and knowing that he was stuck in a place like this, made her heart ache.

Dr. Verbodanin stepped away as Judith introduced herself to Damien, and came back a moment later holding a small dixie cup. "Elena, you can take these now and we'll see how you start feeling in a little while." He held out the cup to her and dropped two small pills in her open palm.

Elena stared down at them ominously. He was staring at her, so there was no way she could palm them or throw them somewhere and she wasn't sure if he would check her mouth if she just held them under her tongue. Wanting to be on her best behavior, she signed and popped them into her mouth, washing them down with the small amount of water she was given. Dr. Verbodanin smiled in approval and took the finished cup from her, tossing it behind her into a trash bin.

"Time to meet your new room mate!" He said happily, going behind her and taking the handles of the wheelchair from Judith.

Elena glanced over at Damien who looked a little dejected. "I'll see you in a little while." She said and was glad when another smile broke out on his face.

He wheeled her down the hall past a few closed doors until finally coming to one with a paper heart on it, the name "Tori" scrawled over it with a harsh black strokes. He knocked once on the door and then opened it without waiting for anyone to answer.

The girl sitting on the bed didn't seem to notice anyone entering. She sat cross legged, leaning forward slightly, her knotted brown hair falling in front of her face. "Tori." The doctor said, stepping directly in front of the girl. Her head snapped up. "We have a new roommate for you. Say hello to Elena."

Elena watched the girl, noticing that it took her a minute for the words to sink in and finally, she moved her head to face them. Her brown eyes were wide and completely glazed over. Seeing Elena sitting there, a sick grin spread across her face.

Okay, definitely deserves to be here, Elena thought. The girl was clearly insane.

"Oh, ELENA, it's so good to SEE you again." She rushed out of the bed and before anyone could stop her, she took both of Elena's hands into her own. "We're going to have so much FUN!"

Not knowing what to say, Elena could only nod.

"Doctor, Tori and Elena went to school together, maybe this isn't the best idea…" Judith said, expressing her concern. She'd heard a little about what happened with Tori from overhearing Elena with her friends and wasn't sure if she was comfortable with them both in the same room together.

"If Elena doesn't like it, we can have her moved, but it may take a few days." Dr. Verbodanin said. "I'm sure everything will be fine with them sharing a room. We've made a lot of progress, haven't we Tori?"

Tori's eyes rolled a little as she adjusted her head to see the doctor. "Of course we have, I feel fantastic. Elena and I are going to be best friends!"

Elena pried her hands out of Tori's with a little difficulty, but smiled not wanting to offend her. "I'm sure we will be. I just got medication though and I'm feeling a little tired. Would you mind if I took a nap?" She asked, hoping that the creepy girl would leave her alone. The other Elena may have known Tori, but she didn't, and was very uncomfortable.

Dr. Verbodanin checked his watch. "You're therapy session isn't scheduled to start for a few hours, so there's plenty of time for you to get some sleep. I'll have Mary come in and wake you when it's time to go downstairs."

He stepped toward the door. "Judith, do you want to come with me so we can discuss some other things? There's still a lot we have to go over since."

Judith crouched down in front of Elena. "Let me help you to your bed and then I'll let you get some sleep." She smiled softly as Elena accepted her help. While she was feeling better, her legs were still a little shaky. Elena wondered if the other Elena had been eating properly at all or if it was just an effect of the overdose.

Kissing Elena softly on the forehead she bid her a quick goodbye and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Laying her head on the pillow, Elena closed her eyes, but then popped them open when she noticed Tori staring at her from her bed. "Goodnight sweetheart." Tori whispered, grinning at her.

Elena wondered if rolling over were a good idea. She wasn't comfortable with leaving her back facing the girl. "Goodnight." She whispered back.

She hadn't been lying… she could feel the pills that the doctor had given her start to make her drowsy and told herself that she'd have to bring it up the next time she saw him. Obviously there was no way she would be able to think of a way to break out if she felt this way.

And she would break out. Somehow.

* * *

Damon came awake slowly to someone stroking their hand against his cheek. He sighed happily wanting to go back to sleep, but something kept him from dozing back off. He squinted his eyes opened and was startled to see a girl leaning above him in bed.

A girl he didn't recognize.

He jumped back, bumping into Elena's body and then moved back toward the headboard. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?"

"Damon? It's me, Elena." She said softly, glancing over to the body in the bed. "I must be dreaming right now or something…." She said softly.

Damon looked the girl up and down. He wasn't sure how she touched him, because it was obvious that she was a ghost, or something. He could see almost completely through her, and the white nightgown she was wearing.

The girl sure LOOKED like a ghost.

"You're Elena?" He whispered.

She looked confused. "Yes, you know me right?" She asked. He watched as she stepped closer. "You're sleeping with my body?"

Not wanting to look back at Elena's body in the daylight, Damon kept questioning the girl. "How did you get here? What are you?" He moved the blankets out of the way and stood up.

"I don't know how I got here." The girl looked at him sadly. "I must be dreaming."

Blue met blue as he stared into her eyes, stepping closer to get a better look at her. He reached out to push a lock of blonde hair out of her face, but was surprised when his hand went through her. "You can touch me but I can't touch you?"

"A nightmare then." The girl muttered.

"Elena, what do you remember?" Damon asked. He was trying to remain calm, but this whole thing was just too confusing.

"I woke up, and I'm Elena Gilbert, but I'm not Elena Gilbert. And nothing makes sense. I just want to see you. I want to come home." He could see tears gathered in her eyes and wished he could do something to stop them from falling.

"Just tell me where you are and I'll come and take you home." Damon assured her, wanting nothing more than to reach out and hold her.

Elena wasn't staring at him anymore though, she was staring at her own body on the bed. "I'm scared Damon."

"Sweetheart, just tell me anything you can. I'll fix this I promise." He begged. "I want you to come home too."

"Tori calls me sweetheart too." Elena said.

"Who is Tori. Elena, you're not making any sense, but if you talk to me, I can help you."

Elena shook her head. "I'm sorry, this must be the pills…"

Frustrated, Damon tried to grab a hold of her again, but walked right through her. "What pills?"

"Damon." This time, his name didn't come from Elena, it was coming from Bonnie, but he didn't see Bonnie anywhere. "Damon, wake up."

Elena turned and looked at him sadly. "Don't leave me."

"Elena?" Damon asked, not understanding.

"Damon!"

Damon shot up from the bed, surprising Bonnie as she moved out of the way. He glanced around the room, not seeing the girl. "Damon, are you alright?" Bonnie asked.

He took a deep breath and pushed his hands against his face, realizing too late how much that would hurt his hand. "Damnit." He muttered, biting his lip to stop from crying out in pain. "Where's Elena?"

Bonnie stared at the spot next to him in the bed. "She's right next to you. You had us all worried. I went downstairs and didn't see her body there and I freaked out." She reached out a hand to him. "Come down, Klaus and Caroline should be here soon. And I called Ric to let him know that he should be here. I didn't tell him about what happened last night though."

He stared up at her confused. "No, she was just here. She wasn't herself, but she said she was Elena and I could see through her."

Bonnie's gaze softened. "You must have been dreaming Damon, when I came in, you were still asleep and saying Elena's name."

Damon growled, getting out of bed. "I'm not having a mental breakdown Bonnie, so you could stop with the pity eyes." He reached his dresser and pulled out a shirt and pants to get dressed. Not caring about what it was, he grabbed the first things he laid eyes on and, with much difficulty, pulled them on. Now that he was awake he did realize how silly it sounded. Of course it was a dream. If it wasn't, Elena would have been a lot more helpful with the hints on where she was.

"I know you're not, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to worry about you." Bonnie argued. "Now come downstairs. Jeremy started to make breakfast. You must be starving."

At her words, Damon's stomach rumbled and he grimaced. "Great…little Gilbert has been back for not even a day and he's going to burn down my kitchen. Why did you leave him alone?"

Bonnie just laughed and walked out the door.

Damon glanced over quickly toward the bed, toward Elena and stared at her. She didn't look so peaceful now, her face grey and her cheeks hollowed out. He closed his eyes and sent a prayer up that they would be able to figure out this garbage with the Original's help.


	16. Chapter 16

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 16**

* * *

"Wakey wakey! Time for you head shrinker appointment!" A voice called to Elena. She opened her eyes to see Tori's face just inches away from her own. "Oh good, sleeping beauty awakens!"

"Tori, step away from Elena, she needs some breathing room." Mary said, from beside the bed. She looked down at Elena apologetically. "Sorry, she asked to be the one to wake you up, I didn't think she would be so...excited." She said as Tori bounced away from the bed.

"That's one word for it." Elena muttered, letting out a sigh of relief when Tori was far enough away to not hear.

Mary slapped her hand in front of her mouth to stop her laughter. "Come, we have an appointment to get to. Do you think you'll be alright walking on your own or do you want me to get the wheelchair again?"

Elena tested her legs against the floor. "I think I'll be alright on my own."

As they left the room, Tori waving and giggling behind them, Elena decided to question Mary. "I met Damien earlier. This seems a weird place for someone so young to be here."

Mary nodded. "Sad story really. His mother died and his father kind of just dumped him here, saying he was having "issues." I never noticed any issues though. Just a sad little boy who misses his mother." She said sadly.

"People can just do that?" Elena said, horrified.

Mary shrugged. " The doctors here said that he was depressed and they have him on some meds so I guess it's really better for him to be here than at home. His father comes once a month to visit him and they just sit there in silence. Damien refuses to talk to him. Personally, I would refuse to also. He's not a nice man."

They reached a locked door and Mary used a flat pass to swipe it in a slot and the door beeped to let them through. "At least with Damien here, he has people who care about him. All the nurses love him, he's a little ladies man. But you can tell he's still sad."

Mary looked over her shoulder and met Elena's eyes. "You've met him a few times before."

"I have?" Elena said, surprised.

Mary nodded. "Yeah, you would come to visit a few times, before you were having problems. You used to play board games together and would read to him sometimes."

"Did I come here a lot?" Elena asked, trying to gain as much information about her new self as possible. "Is that how we know each other?"

Shaking her head, Mary led them through another security door. "No, you're best friends with my little sister. I've known you since you were a baby." She admitted. Elena could hear the sadness laced in with her voice.

"Oh. Maybe you can let me give her a call… maybe if I talk to your sister I'll remember some things." Elena said happily. This was her chance to get her hands on a phone.

"Nice try." Mary laughed. "If I get caught giving you a phone, the doctor will have my head."

Elena blushed. Okay, that idea went straight out the window.

"We're here." Mary gestured to the plastic seats lined against the wall. Elena plopped herself down. "It should only be a few minutes and she'll be here. She'll call me when you're ready to come back up."

As Elena watched her turn back down the hallway, she thought this could possibly be her chance to run. Yeah, she was wearing nothing but a hospital gown and she had no shoes, but hopefully she could get far enough away that no one would notice. If she timed it right.

As soon as the door clicked behind Mary, Elena stood up and started to look for a good escape route. Thankfully the hallway was completely empty but with not many options, she decided to rush toward the opposite end of the hall and see if there was any way to escape that way. It was slow going on her wobbly legs, but she managed to reach a door with a "stairs" sign on it and with no security lock on it.

"Bingo." She whispered to herself, pulling it open with her full body weight.

Only to come face to face with a woman. They both stared at each other in shock, until the woman's face lit up with a smile. "You must be Elena. Trying to escape, are we?"

Disappointment flooded Elena, realizing she was caught. "Um… yeah." She admitted.

The woman nodded. "Thought so. Sorry, I'm afraid I can't allow that, we have a very important appointment." She placed her hand on Elena's shoulder. "I'm here to help you. Please, just give it a chance."

Elena nodded and let the woman lead her down the hallway. The woman was tall and was wearing a blue nicely tailored business suit, her blonde hair pulled back into a neat slick bun. In her hands, she carried a clipboard and a few files, Elena assumed they were all on her.

She cringed when she saw how much information was in the files.

Why couldn't she just jump into a sane, well adjusted girl?

The woman used her keys to open the door across from the plastic chairs and motioned for Elena to step into the office before her. "Take a seat. I was reading over all the files, so I'm sorry we couldn't have an appointment earlier in the day. I just wanted to catch up on everything." She said, placing the pile on the desk. Elena took a seat in front of the desk and was surprised when the woman took the seat next to her instead of behind the desk. She leaned over toward her. "My name is Mylea and I really hope that you're comfortable talking to me."

Elena blinked. "I hope so too."

Mylea reached over the desk and grabbed the clipboard and a pen, then leaned back in the chair. "So, where would you like to start?"

Confused, Elena just stared at her. "Isn't that something that you should tell me?"

Smiling, Mylea nodded. "I can if you would like me to. How are you feeling today?"

"I feel fine and I don't want to be here." Elena said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, at least you're honest." Mylea clicked her pen and wrote for a minute.

"Listen," Elena began. "I don't remember anything, so I'm not sure how this is going to help. I feel fine, I'm not going to kill myself and I'd just like to get back to trying to be normal. This all feels very unnecessary."

Mylea sighed. "I know you feel that way now, but the bottom line is, that you need help. The reason you have no memories is because you're suppressing them. You went through something very traumatic and you've been having problems for a few years so I'm here to unlock those memories and get you to deal with them."

Elena wanted to scream but that would probably make her seem even more crazy. "Can I read my file? Since I don't remember anything, it may help."

"No you can't read the file, but I'll be glad to answer any questions that you might have about your medical history." The woman offered.

Biting her lip, realizing that it was as good as she was going to get, Elena didn't argue. "Okay. Well, what can you tell me about the accident that killed my parents."

Suspicion crossed Mylea's face for a moment, but it the look passed so quickly that Elena thought she may have imagined it. "Well, from what I read, your parent's drove off the road and into a ditch. There were a lot of trees around so no one noticed for a few days. A driver finally noticed the new skid marks and found the car. You were hysterical when they found you but fell into a coma for a few weeks afterward."

Elena swallowed, disturbed by the thought of being stuck in a car with her dead parents for so long. She was thankful that when her parents died, it was quick. "And my sister was with us?"

Mylea nodded. "Yes, but she was completely unharmed. She had a very good car seat and was surprisingly healthy after a few days of being stuck. They kept her in the hospital for observation for a few days until your Aunt took her home."

"What kind of problems did I have after I woke up?"

Dropping her pen into her lap, Mylea reached over and grabbed the files from the desk, flipping through them quickly before answering. "You were very paranoid. You said someone drove you off of the road, but you didn't know who or what it was. But there was no evidence that suggested that there was another car involved. You would sometimes say that people were out to take you away and that's when they started medicating you. Then you would have episodes where you forgot who you were and would think you were someone else."

"Thought I was someone else?" Elena asked.

"Your doctor Nancy diagnosed you with dissociative identity disorder and you were on medication for it. It's brought on by depression and going through a traumatic experience, like the one that you had been through. You would become another person, basically, to break away from your what was depressing you. Nancy wrote about a few times where you would "switch" from person to person in the middle of a session. You would also talk about out of body experiences. And come up with other back stories for the people that you already know, sometimes changing the names a little. The condition could cause dissociative amnesia, which you're experiencing right now." Mylea suggested. "I could put you under hypnosis and see if I could maybe talk to one of your other personalities?"

"No!" Elena said, much too quickly. "Please don't. I'm not comfortable with that."

Mylea placed her hands on top of the files on her lap. She observed her for a minute before speaking. "Elena, if I ask you something, will you try to be completely honest with me?"

Nervous, Elena only nodded. "Are you experiencing one of these episodes right now? Is that why you don't remember anything? Because you're remembering a different life?"

"I…" Elena didn't know what to say. She couldn't possibly confide in this woman. That only a little while ago she was a vampire, but she traveled into another person's body because she was bitten by a werewolf and was dying.

Another person's body, with the same exact name.

Then they would never let her out of this hospital. They would think she was completely insane. It was best to lie, go along with whatever they said and be released so she could get back home. She was reminded about her dream earlier, seeing poor Damon, sleeping next to her own dead body. "No, everything feels like a blank slate."

Mylea stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Okay, I think that's enough for today." She stood and took out her keys, going over to a metal cabinet at the other side of the room, unlocking the top and slid out a small white cardboard box. "I want you to take this right now, and I'll write a prescription for you so they can give this to you every day."

"The doctor already gave me something earlier." Elena hedged, hoping that would get the doctor to reconsider.

"I'm aware, that was anti-anxiety medication. This is called chlorpromazine, it will hopefully help with the amnesia." She pulled out a bottle of water from the mini-fridge next to the file cabinet.

"Hopefully?" Elena said, doubtful. Mylea nodded and handed over the one pill and the bottle of water. Once again, Elena wasn't comfortable taking anything, but she did anyway. She never liked taking medication, even after her parent's accident, she'd been given painkillers that she never finished. Ones she really just should have destroyed right away since she knew she'd never take them. It would have prevented Jeremy from trying to kill himself with them.

"I'll escort you back up so Mary doesn't have to come back, we'll give her a little break." Mylea smiled tightly. Elena realized that she doesn't seem as friendly as she had when their appointment started and wondered if she'd done or said anything wrong. She thought she'd done rather well considering everything.

As they made their way back through the hallways, Elena grew more confused. Was the shift in attitude from Mylea because she didn't believe her? Did she think that Elena was another one of her personalities right now?

They stepped back into the recreation room and Mylea reached out to shake Elena's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow Elena. Same time, same place." Her gold flecked blue eyes were friendly again, so Elena dismissed her previous thoughts.

"Okay." She whispered as Mylea left through the security door, leaving her alone for the moment.

Not seeing anyone else around, and not wanting to go back into the room with Tori, Elena took a seat on the couch and mindlessly watched whatever was already playing on the television. She was starting to feel drowsy again and hated the feeling, knowing it must have been the pill that Mylea gave her. She didn't know what to do, how to escape, and she was frustrated. How in the world was she going to get word back to Mystic Falls if she couldn't even think straight.

She closed her eyes and raised her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Hello again." Damien's voice said.

She opened her eyes to see the little boy sitting next to her on the couch. She was feeling a little loopy, but at least he was there. "Hey. I'm sorry I forgot about meeting you before today."

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "It's okay. Mary warned me before I saw you."

How horrible that this child had to know that. From what Mary had said earlier, it seemed like everyone forgot about him. She wondered if he would be staying in this place until he was old enough to check himself out or if his father would one day come to his senses and let him come home.

Elena reached over and squeezed his little hand. "I won't forget again." She promised, immediately realizing what a mistake that was. When she escaped, there would be no way for her to come back and visit him. She would be just another person to abandon him.

The thought didn't sit well with her.

He glanced up at her and met her eyes. "It's okay if you do. I forgive you." The look in his sad blue eyes suggested that he knew that she would.

Elena pulled her hair back, suddenly feeling very warm. This medication was not sitting well with her either. But she didn't want to stop talking to the boy. "Tell me about yourself Damien."

She watched as he kicked his legs off the edge of the couch. "Not much to tell. I'm nine years old, I miss going to school… My little brother's dead, my mother's dead and my dad's kind of a dick." He watched her to gage her reaction.

"That's not a very nice word." Elena laughed a little. "I'm sorry about your mother and brother though. What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

The little boy shrugged again and stared at the tv. "Car accident. Mom was picking up Steven from nursery school and their car went off a bridge."

"Went off a bridge? Steven… that was your brothers name?" Elena asked, a little terrified. There were just too many coincidences and she wished she had somewhere to go alone that she could think. This little mini-Damon sitting by her side… his little brother Steven. Them going over a bridge and drowning and her own car accident.

"Yeah." He glanced over. "You and I spoke about it when you first came here and met me. I think they had you come in because your parents died in an accident too. You know, so we could "connect" with each other." He held up his hands, air quoting. "I wasn't getting along with my therapist, so they sent you in. I'm glad they did, no matter how lame it was."

Elena nodded, feeling sick. "Damien, is there a bathroom around here that I could use?" She asked. He nodded and pointed to a door on the side of the room before she jumped up and stumbled toward it.

Pushing the door open, she made it to the toilet just in time to lose the breakfast they'd fed her right before testing that morning. She sat on the floor, glad for the cold tile against her too hot skin.

None of this made any sense at all.

Or maybe it did.

Elena leaned her head against the back of the bathroom stall and began to cry.

What if they were right?

What if her life in Mystic Falls wasn't real at all?

* * *

**So... HUGE thanks to Twitter, because if not for that, I would have never learned that they turned "The Gilbert House" into a ... well... boarding house. So my best friend, my husband and I area all booked and will be staying there. I can't even begin to describe how excited I am. My best friend said "Well, I'm all for sharing a room, but if you and the hubby want some private time... I'm going to head on over to the grill." **

**Just the thought is so weird. **

**And FYI... I'm totally going to get my husband to kiss me on that damn porch. More than once. HA! **

**I keep throwing little silly things in here, but no one ever says anything about them. Let me ask... who HAS read the books? All the way through. Anyone? **

**Anyway, I'll give you a hint about one of my silly things. Look at the Dr.'s name really close and tell me what you see. **

**Until next time folks! If you would like to chat, hit me up on twitter. At... HisGem.**


	17. Chapter 17

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 17**

Damon didn't know if he should be thankful that Jeremy's idea of "fixing breakfast" was a bowl of cereal, or disappointed. It was too sweet, too soggy and disgusting. But he was famished so he shoveled it into his mouth anyway.

He sat, leaning forward on the couch, with the bowl balanced on his knee as half listened to Jeremy and Bonnie sitting on the couch in front of him, throwing theories back and forth about things they could do to track down Elena.

His parents sat toward the back of the room in the same spot they'd been in last night before all hell had broken loose. He couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, which he was very grateful for. He still hadn't forgiven either of them for forcing the cure down his throat. Yes, he understood. Yes, he did the same thing to Elena when she was going to die because of the ritual… but he still intended to hold the grudge for a little while longer.

Matt and Stefan stood closer to the front door, filling in Ric on what had happened after he left the night before. Every once in a while, Damon could see his friend's gaze sweep in his direction, filled with concern. Damon ignored him. His sympathy was the last thing he needed.

What he needed was Elena. And a stiff drink. But when he'd moved to the drink cart earlier, Bonnie had given him the eye and he thought better of it. He needed a clear head and being human, drinking the amount he WANTED to drink, was probably not a good idea. Especially at this hour. He would be obliterated by the time Klaus and Caroline showed up.

As he ate, he thought about his dream and whatever it could possibly mean. It's not as if he'd never had a dream about her before, but he'd never woken up before thinking that his dreams had really happened. Why would he imagine her to be a blonde now? If anything, he'd dream of her as looking like… well… herself.

Should that mean something important? He knew she was floating around out there in someone else's body, but he just didn't know why he would come up with a visual of someone that looked that way. The girl had been beautiful, but she'd also looked very sick and was talking about a person that Damon had never heard of.

It just didn't make any sense.

The front door clicked open, Klaus sweeping in as if he owned the place, as usual. Damn man never knocked once, Damon thought, pissed off. Caroline walked in behind him, looking down at the floor timidly.

Klaus clapped his hands together. "Well, lets get to work then, shall we?"

Lily stood from her seat. "Niklaus, what a pleasure! You're going to help us? I should have thought earlier to call you, of course you have the resources in order to find Elena."

Damon turned in the seat to look over at his mother, pointing his spoon in her direction. "I'm going to need a list of all the people you know, because this is getting real old, real fast."

"Ah, Dear Lily, I see you're doing well. I didn't realize you were part of the group." Klaus made his way over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Last I heard you were trapped in some kind of prison world. How did you manage to escape?"

Damon rolled his eyes and spied Enzo getting up, a look of jealousy crossing his face.

"Elena and my son were able to get me out." Lily said proudly, sending a glance Damon's way. Klaus followed Lily's gaze and smiled deviously.

"Son! How about that. I never made the connection before but now that you mention it, I do see the resemblance." He said, laughing. "I had plenty of fun with your other son in the 20's, some time we can sit down and I'll tell you ALL about it."

Lily turned around, facing the others. "My friend who turned me and turned Enzo, was Nik's brother Elijah. I joined them for a while after I turned." She explained.

Damon twirled his spoon in the air. "Don't care all that much to hear about it. Can we get this started please?"

Everyone nodded and took places around the two couches. Alaric took a seat next to Damon, patting his shoulder on the way down.

"My sister will be here shortly, along with a book about travelers. Hopefully that will give us some clues. It has some spells in it, but to be honest, I don't know if any non-travelers can do them, but Stefan may be able to, since he's also one." Klaus said, sending a quick glance in Stefan's direction. "I'm going to guess you could probably do some of them, since Elena was able to travel, but maybe they don't work quite as well as they should, since she didn't travel to where she was supposed to actually go."

Bonnie nodded. "I thought that too. Maybe the doppelganger blood makes the spells work a little differently. I do know that Marcus needed their blood to perform their spells though, so it does work. Maybe Stefan would be able to use it to do some kind of locator spell."

"Either way, we may still need a traveler. Do you know of any?" Damon asked, directing the question toward Klaus.

Klaus shook his head. "No, but we can ask around in the quarter to see if any of the witches know of any. There must be a way to track one down."

Enzo stepped forward. "These travelers, are they all descended from the same bloodlines? Is everyone related?"

"They must be. Stefan is from Silas's bloodline and Elena is from Amara's bloodline." Damon replied.

"Then wouldn't Sarah be a traveler?" Enzo suggested.

There was silence before Damon let out a sigh of relief. "She must be. Go track her down and hope that you didn't scare her too badly. Get her to come here."

Enzo nodded, glad to be of help. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and left the room to make the phone call.

"As soon as Barbie Original gets here with that book, we can have Stefan try a tracking spell and if that doesn't work, we'll make Sarah do it once she gets here. Ric, is Jo going to be at the hospital today? I need her to take a look at my hand." Damon said, pissed that he even had to ask. Not at Jo of course, just the fact that he hurt himself so easily. He wished he could just take some of Stefan's blood and be done with it.

Alaric shook his head. "No, she took time off. We were supposed to be leaving on our honeymoon today."

Damon flinched. "I'm not stopping you. Go have a good time. We'll have this all cleared up by dinner time and you can be far, far away enjoying your new wife." He flashed a smile. "I hope you didn't have time to bring your tuxedo back to the rental store, I left-"

Ric laughed. "I know, Elena told me about it. And there's no way I'm going to be able to bring that tux back to the store, it's covered in blood." He shook his head disbelievingly. "You do realize that Elena is like a daughter to me. I'm not going to go off on my honeymoon and not be here to make sure that everything turns out alright. We'll lose our deposit, so what? When we get Elena back home safe and sound, I'll cash that check and plan an even better honeymoon." Ric grinned.

Letting out a small chuckle, Damon shook his head. "Don't go spending that all in one place buddy."

"Damon, I'll drive you over to the hospital so we can compel a doctor to look at your hand." Stefan offered, pulling keys from the back pocket of his jeans.

"Why the hell would we need to compel anyone? I'm human, there's nothing weird about me." Damon asked.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you have no medical records. And no insurance. It's going to look a little weird. Plus, you should probably get some immunizations since the last time you were human things were a little different. And there's no way to explain why you have never had them in the past."

Jeremy and Matt snorted at the same time. When Damon glanced their way, Jeremy explained. "When Katherine became a human she got sick for a week, it was gross. You're definitely going to want to get some shots."

"Good to know I have so much to look forward to." Damon grumbled, putting his finished cereal bowl on the coffee table and getting up. "We'll go to the hospital after we track down Elena. We don't have time for a hospital waiting room right now."

Another click of the door sounded and Damon was surprised to see a beautiful dark skinned girl enter the house instead of the blonde bombshell he was used to. She carried an old book under one arm. Recognizing the look of annoyance in her eyes, he grinned and whistled at her. "A little heavy on the spray tan there Barbie?"

Rebecca looked up at him and sneered. "Good to see you haven't changed one bit."

Matt's eyebrows shot up. "Rebecca?!" He exclaimed.

Her gaze softened as she turned to look at him. "Hello Matt."

Jeremy nudged Matt's rib cage. "Dude, close your mouth. I see a little bit of drool."

Klaus turned to his sister. "Where is Hope? You didn't leave her in the car did you?"

Giving him a look, Rebecca stepped up to him. "Do you think I'm an idiot? No, Freya is getting her out of the car. She was a little fussy this morning."

As she spoke, another girl came into the boarding house, holding a baby carrier.

Caroline perked up and peered into the carrier. "Oh my God! Klaus, did you steal someone's baby?!"

Klaus turned his glare on Caroline. "No, I did not STEAL someone's baby. That's my daughter! And my sister Freya."

Damon groaned and fell back onto the couch. "There's more of you?"

Freya's attention snapped over to Damon and she smiled sweetly. "Ah, you must be Damon then." She gently placed the carrier at her feet. "Alright, can someone take me to see Elena? I'm a witch, I might be able to help without us having to do anything regarding the travelers."

Sighing, Damon glanced over to Bonnie. There were way too many people in his house right now. "Can you take the new Barbie Original upstairs please?" Bonnie nodded and quickly guided Freya out of the room and up the stairs.

Klaus went over to the carrier, unbuckling Hope and pulling her into his arms. Caroline stared at them, flustered. "If you have a baby, that means… that when we-"

Klaus had the decency to look bashful. "Yes, it means that Haley was already pregnant. I should have told you, but you didn't exactly want to stay and chat and I promised to be out of your hair right away."

Caroline turned red. "HALEY!?"

"Can we PLEASE get down to what matters right now instead of going over your baby mama drama Caroline." Damon interjected, his jaw flexing in aggravation. She nodded and looked back down at the floor, shifting as far away from Klaus as possible. He couldn't wait to tease her about this, but it could wait.

Rebecca made her way down the one step and into the sitting room, holding out the book to Matt, he took it and started to gently flip through the pages. "This has history and spells in it, but I tried one of the spells earlier and it didn't work for me. However, I am relatively new to this witch business and Freya might have better luck."

"Damon, while they research, why don't we go on over to the hospital? I can compel the doctors to see you first and we can get out of there quickly." Stefan suggested.

Damon started to refuse when he realized just how much his hand was throbbing. Stefan was right, they could compel the doctors to be done quickly. "Fine, but if we're there for longer than an hour, I'm walking out." He said, standing back up.

Ric followed suit. "I'll join you both."

As they were reaching the front door, they stopped, noticing Freya and Bonnie coming down the stairs, their expressions hopeful. Damon didn't like the fact that they were only up there for a few minutes.

"So," Bonnie started. "The good news, is that Elena isn't exactly dead." When all eyes turned to her in confusion, she continued. "She's just dessicated. Kind of like when an original is daggered. I didn't think to check because I never thought that would happen to someone who wasn't an original. Basically all her blood dried up, including the werewolf bite, slowing it down. So it's not going to kill her, especially if we can manage to get some of Klaus's blood down her throat."

She turned to Damon. "The bad news, well Freya can't do any of the travelers spells either, so it's up to Stefan to do some sort of tracking spell."

Stefan dropped his keys onto the hallway table. "Okay, I guess we'll wait on the hospital."

Bonnie grabbed several candles from the hallway closet and put them on the coffee table, picking up the cereal bowl and staring at it, then up at Damon in confusion. It wasn't like Damon to leave a dirty dish around the house, especially when it had the possibility of leaving a mark on the wood. Usually when he was stressed, he cleaned. For him to do the complete opposite, worried her.

Matt held open the book and read the requirements. "We just need fire, a map and-" He laughed. "Doppelganger blood." He glanced up at Stefan. "Good thing we happen to have you around huh? Must have been tough for the other travelers to do this spell without one."

Jeremy grabbed a map of Virginia and gently rolled it out on the table, glad that Damon had thought, years ago, to buy a decent amount of maps from all over. The amount they went through them was crazy. "Should we start with this one and then move to bigger maps if we can't find anything?"

Stefan nodded, kneeling next to the coffee table. "This will work for now. If it doesn't, we'll try another one."

Damon watched them from the side of the room, leaned up against the wall. As Matt gave Stefan the directions, Damon prayed that this would help them. Ric stood next to him, silently offering him support.

Despite the amount of people in the room, it was silent. Everyone watched and listened as Stefan cut his hand with a dagger, spoke the words that Matt told him to repeat and let his bleeding hand hover above the map. The blood gathered on his palm and slowly dripped off.

Everyone watched, mesmerized, as the drop hovered in mid air above the map.

The candles flickered and went out.

The droplet splattered onto the map.

Stefan leaned over quickly to see where it landed, then looked up at Damon in confusion.

"It landed on Mystic Falls."

* * *

**Sorry for another chapter without interaction between Damon and Elena! They'll be reunited soon, I promise! Let me know what you think. Any theories as to where this is going? **

**Heading out on a mini-road trip in a few hours. So I thought I would leave you with an extra chapter until I get back. We're' going to Mystic CT (A lot of "Mystic" vacations this year lol) Going to see the Smashing Pumpkins/Marilyn Manson show and see the sights. Going on a ferry for the first time ever and I'm VERY nervous. **

**See you all soon! **


	18. Chapter 18

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 18**

Elena heard the sound of sneakers running toward the bathroom and groaned, keeping her eyes closed. She'd thrown up more than once and she just wanted to be left alone.

She had a feeling that "being left alone" in a mental institution was something that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Whether her being sick was because of the horrible revelation that her life was a lie, or just the effects of the medication, she didn't care.

She wouldn't mind going to sleep for a few decades, if that meant she could live in her dreams with her family, with Damon for just a little while longer. Maybe she could convince the doctors to put her into an induced coma for the rest of her life. It wouldn't hurt to ask…

"Elena?" The door to the bathroom squeaked opened and Elena opened her eyes to see Mary peering in. "Oh God, are you alright" She asked, rushing forward and putting an arm around her shoulders. "You're blazing hot right now." She muttered, feeling Elena's clammy head, and brushing the wet strands out of the way.

Elena leaned into Mary's cold hand. "I don't think the medicine agreed with me." She admitted. At least it wasn't a complete lie.

"Here, let's get you back to your room." Mary said, standing up. "Do you think you can walk on your own?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah, but I think I still have to throw up."

Waving her hand in the air as if that wasn't an issue, Mary gazed down at her. "That's not a problem, I can have a wastebasket put next to your bed. I know you don't want to go back in there, but Tori is sleeping and she usually stays napping for a few hours around this time of day, so she won't bother you."

Using the wall behind her for support, Elena stood and leaned over to flush the toilet. She stopped for just a moment, to let a wave of dizziness pass. When she was sure she wasn't going to vomit on the way to the bedroom, she allowed Mary to take her arm and lead her out of the bathroom.

Something warm slammed into the lower half of her body and she realized quickly that Damien had wrapped himself around her waist. "I was so worried, I went and got Mary." He said. She almost couldn't make out his words as his face was buried in her shirt.

She patted him on the head, running her fingers through his thick black hair. "You did the right thing, thank you." She assured him.

He looked up at her, his blue eyes intense. "Are you okay? I heard you getting sick."

Elena smiled down at him. "I'll be fine. My tummy just hurts."

Mary reached down to separate the two. "Sorry guys, Damien, you know the rules. No touching between boys and girls."

Elena frowned at Mary. "It's hardly romantic."

Shrugging, Mary turned to guide her down the hall. "It doesn't matter. There just can't be any physical contact between patients of the opposite sex. Rules are rules, no matter how silly they are."

Holding back a snide comment, Elena followed Mary back to the room without another word. It might be a good idea to get a list of their stupid rules so she didn't break any of them. While she could admit that maybe they were right about her being mentally ill, and making up another life filled with vampires, witches and werewolves, it felt so real to her that she just had to be sure. She would need to follow the rules just enough to get phone privileges. And then she could call Damon herself and see if he was as real as she hoped he was.

It would just take one phone call, for her to know if she were crazy or not.

With Damon on her mind, Elena glanced over her shoulder and watched Damien walk back toward the couch to watch television, noticing the slump in his shoulders and her heart ached for him. Could she really have turned this little boy into a man in her head? Sure there were similarities, a CRAZY amount of similarities. But she couldn't see herself placing him in her head as someone to be romantically involved with.

If anything, she could imagine him being their son, if they'd gotten to take the cure together and lived their human lives like they wanted to.

Realizing that her train of thought was just going to make herself more miserable than she was already feeling, she forced herself to stop thinking and clear her head, just in time for them to reach the door to the assigned room. This time the door was open and she could see Tori laying under her blankets, facing the wall. Glad that she wouldn't have to deal with her, she let Mary guide her over to the bed and was thankful for the extra care when she tucked her in.

Mary went to the other side of the room and picked up a garbage can that Elena hadn't noticed was there before. Other than that, there was nothing really in the room, she observed. Just two beds with metal bed frames, with a small wooden night table next to each of them. Over each bed was a window with a frosting on it that made you not be able to see outside… and bars.

Not a very homey atmosphere.

"This should help." Mary whispered, putting the bin next to Elena's bed. "If you need anything, just call out for me okay?" Elena nodded and smiled in thanks, watching as Mary tiptoed out of the room.

She didn't want to sleep, she felt as if it was the only thing she'd been doing lately. But sleep was better than just laying there and letting her mind run wild with the possibility that she may be crazy.

Elena closed her eyes, praying that she would get to see Damon in her dreams again.

* * *

Damon tapped his foot anxiously against the linoleum floor of the hospital's emergency waiting room, almost angrily as he waited for Stefan to come back from compelling one of the nurses. They'd already been at the hospital for a good twenty minutes, but everyone that Stefan had tried to compel right away wasn't some that could help them.

They were apparently contending with a car accident on the highway that had involved a party bus, so they were shit out of luck actually FINDING a doctor that could help.

He'd quickly realized about five minutes after Stefan had disappeared, that he'd been so distracted he'd left his cell phone at home. There was no way he could even get in touch with his brother to let him know that he'd deal with the pain and that they should just get the hell out of dodge.

The pain radiating from his hand had stopped him from charming the girl at the desk into using her phone to call him. It had turned from a dull throb into the feeling that someone was smashing his fist with a sledgehammer, the pain now shooting up his entire arm. Like it or not, he was going to have to bite his tongue and wait for someone to fix him.

Thankfully, things were in motion back at the house. Enzo wasn't able to get in touch with Sarah over the phone, Damon wasn't surprised, he knew the way that Enzo operated and his great great great niece was probably avoiding his friend, she didn't blame her. So he'd sent Enzo and his mother to go out and track her down.

He was going to tell Matt to do more traveler research, but when he noticed him making eyes across the room at Rebekah he realized that Matt wasn't going to be any use to any of them. Since he'd really helped a lot already, Damon had taken pity on him instead of giving him a job to do, had pushed him in Rebekah's direction, wishing him luck.

Guy deserved a little action, he supposed. Even if it was from a hot vampire turned hot witch that was surely going to get him into trouble somehow eventually.

In the meantime, even though Jo was on vacation, he'd ordered her, Ric and Caroline, to drive over to Whitmore medical center and get supplies for a blood transfusion.

They'd tried to just feed Elena Klaus's blood, but her body had been so dessicated that none of it would go down her throat, so they would need some equipment and Jo was more than willing to help. She'd also said that she could get the vaccinations that he needed from her hospital, so he wouldn't have to deal with the questions, which he was grateful for.

After waiting so long at Mystic Falls hospital, Damon felt like maybe he should have joined them. The drive was longer, but at least he would have had something to do rather than being useless in a hospital waiting room.

Damon slammed his head back against the wall in frustration. All he wanted to do was be back at the mansion with Elena.

He felt incredibly stupid for not thinking about the possibility that she had just desiccated and not died. What did any of them really know about werewolf bites anyway? He'd killed Rose before they had any solid information, he'd always been saved just in the nick of time by Klaus. And yeah, Nadia had died, but maybe if he went to dig up her body and put some of Klaus's blood in her veins she'd wake up.

Not that he had any intention of doing that.

There was no way they could have known of course, them or any other vampire that thought a werewolf bite was fatal. But that didn't stop him from thinking that he SHOULD have known otherwise.

It was the only thing that made sense. Stefan's tracking spell said she was still in Mystic Falls, so she must still be stuck in her own body, despite Bonnie's feeling of her going "through" her when she did the spell the night before.

It didn't explain the bizarre dream that Damon had of Elena being in another body and talking in riddles, but he could just chalk that up to it being his first night as a human, super tired, in pain and going to sleep thinking of her being in someone else's body.

Damon stood and began to pace back and forth. The pain was starting to get to him, along with the frustration. He was about to call it a day and start walking back to the boarding house when, with a sigh of relief, he saw Stefan come back into the waiting room, a young doctor trailing behind him.

Stefan looked at him sheepishly. "Found one!" He said, a half smile turning up his lips.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Finally brother. Let's do this and get the hell out of this hell hole."

With a dazed look in his eye, the doctor lead them through the emergency doors and down the hallway, past a few rooms filled with the sick. Damon was sure he should have gotten vaccinated first before even stepping foot in the hospital. With all the coughing he could hear, he was sure he was going to come down with something life threatening.

As they turned a corner, he bumped shoulders with someone. "Sorry." He muttered, not really sorry. He was in a rush and in pain, you could hardly fault him for not looking where he was going.

The woman, who had dropped a few files on the floor, bent to pick them up. Stefan, ever the gentleman, leaned over to help her.

"No problem, I wasn't looking where I was going." She stated, looking up at Damon. He noticed her face pale and her eyes were filled with recognition, even though he could swear that he'd never met the girl in his life. Damon gave her a quick once over. Neat suit, legs that went on for days and a tight blond bun atop her head.

Hell, he'd had plenty of drunken nights at the grill. He'd taken many of them home, and he'd been drunk enough to forget the details, but he wouldn't have forgotten this woman.

He smiled at her and noticed that she looked more frightened than turned on. She looked at Stefan the same way when taking the files from his hands and without even saying thank you, she rushed down the hall and out of sight.

Damon whistled, sharing a look with Stefan. "This day keeps getting more and more confusing."

Stefan answered by just rolling his eyes.


	19. Chapter 19

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 19**

Klaus glanced through the bars of the Salvatore basement cell, glaring at Tyler curled up in the corner on the floor facing the wall.

Everyone, for the moment, was otherwise occupied and since no other vampires were in the house, he figured he was in the clear, wanting to have a … private chat with the boy. He broke open the lock and swung the door open, letting himself inside.

Suddenly alert, Tyler shuffled up from the floor and faced him, breathing heavily. His eyes holding nothing but for contempt for the man in front of him, he snorted. "I see Caroline used her speed dial. She's got you on a short leash. She calls, you come running huh?" He asked, mockingly.

Klaus sped forward, picking Tyler up by his neck and slamming him against the wall. "I could say the same about you Tyler." He gestured to the chains binding him to the reinforced wall. "I'd say your leash is considerably shorter than my own."

Despite being held by his neck, Tyler didn't struggle, just reared his head back and spit in Klaus's face.

Klaus flashed him a devilish smile before throwing him as hard as he could across the room, with only a flick of his wrist. He didn't go far though, the shackles dug violently into his wrists and snapped him back on the hard floor, right at Klaus's feet.

Stepping closer to him, Klaus stomped on Tyler's left hand, satisfied with the crunch and Tyler's howl of pain. He struggled beneath his weight, trying to use his other arm to push at Klaus's leg, but he wouldn't budge. "Let's get one thing straight… I'm the one calling the shots here." He lifted his leg and as soon as Tyler took a deep breath in relief, he sent a swift kick to his rib cage. "You're going to do exactly as I say."

"Or what?" Tyler asked, still defiant.

"Or nothing, I'll just compel you." Klaus said, moving toward the other side of the room and leaning against the wall. "You see, when I make a promise, I keep it. Caroline has asked that I spare your life. I promised her that I would."

Anger flashed through Tyler's eyes, lighting them up a quick golden color before it dissipated. "She's the one that DID this to me!" He growled.

"You know it would have happened eventually Tyler. It was only a matter of time. Can you honestly tell me that since becoming human, you've been in control of your temper? The wolf inside of you was scratching and clawing to come out. You wouldn't have lasted more than a few more months. From what I understand, you've already had some problems with your temper, haven't you." When all Klaus received back was a glare, he smiled. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

He stepped closer again, squatting down in front of Tyler.

"You hurt Caroline." He stated evenly, though Tyler could see the look of menace in his eyes.

"I TRIED to hurt Caroline. Unfortunately, I that didn't work out." Tyler didn't care at this point, if Klaus were to rip his head off, or his heart out. He didn't want to be a werewolf again, he would rather be dead. He had a feeling though, that Klaus knew that and that's the real reason he was going to let him live.

To torture him without him ever really having to lift a finger.

"When I was here at graduation for a quick visit, I left Caroline with a good amount of my blood in the event that her or one of her dear friends needed it. Imagine my surprise when I get a phone call stating that there is no more of my blood left in Mystic Falls. Why is that Tyler?" Klaus tilted his head to the side, his expression curious. "Did she accidentally dispose of it all down the kitchen sink? Did she get hungry for a midnight snack and like my blood SO much she drank every last drop? She didn't say anything to me, and I didn't need to ask. You couldn't control yourself around her and she used MY blood to fix YOUR mistakes time and time again."

Klaus grabbed Tyler by his obviously borrowed shirt and twisted, pulling him off of the floor so that they were almost nose to nose. "You will not have the chance to ever hurt her again." His eyes dilated. "You will make a swift exit from Mystic Falls. Grab only the things you absolutely need and get as FAR away as possible. On the off chance that you see Caroline or ANY of her friends, you will immediately run in the opposite direction."

Dropping him, Klaus reached over and yanked at the chains which instantly pulled out of the wall. "You have one minute to get out of this house before I go back on my word and string you up by your intestines"

With the gruesome visual in his head, Tyler sent him one last death glare before zipping out of the room.

* * *

"I hate you, you know that?"

Stefan narrowed his eyes at his brother, laying lounged back as far as the passenger seat of the camaro could go. He had one booted foot hanging out the window and he wondered if that was legal or not.

"And you drive like an old man." Damon muttered.

Stefan let out a chuckle. "Damon, I am an old man."

Damon lifted his newly casted hand in the air, and manage to get his pointer finger up. "I guess you're right." He said, staring confused at the cast.

"How much drugs did they pump you with?" Stefan asked, easing his foot onto the break as they approached a stop sign. He looked both ways and being sure that there was no one coming, finally began to drive again. He would never admit it to his older, or was it younger now?, brother that he was nervous having him in the car.

He wasn't normally a crazy driver, at least, not as much as Damon usually was, but he did generally go over the speed limit, when there was no traffic around. But having a fragile Damon in the passenger seat, his brother that couldn't be cured with vampire blood if they got into an accident, made him a little more cautious.

"Not enough." Damon admitted. "I asked for more, but that nurse was NOT very friendly."

"Maybe you shouldn't have called her Nurse Ratched?" Stefan suggested, making the turn toward their lonely street.

Damon shifted his head to glare at his brother. "I'm one hundred percent sure she took pleasure in my pain. Who's side are you on?"

"Yours brother, always yours. So what they gave you isn't helping?"

Shaking his head, Damon finally lowered his arm back into his lap. "It's making me feel sick and my arm is still throbbing."

"Well, sorry I can't help you out." Stefan said softly, turning into the driveway.

Damon shrugged, watching the trees go by out the window. "Doesn't really matter."

After a few beats of comfortable silence, Damon rolled his head so that he was looking over at his brother. "So...have you spoken to Caroline yet?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows. He could use the distraction and teasing his brother always put him in a better mood.

Stefan sighed. "I've been with you all day. And she spent all her time with Klaus last night. Wasn't much time for friendly conversation." He knew what Damon was doing. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't have said anything, but he realized his brother needed something to get his mind off of the pain, and off of Elena, so he went along with it.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Damon teased.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "It's not like Klaus is going to stick around. At least I hope he isn't. Seems like he's got his hands full with the baby and with things back in New Orleans." He muttered.

Closing his eyes, Damon lay his head back onto the seat. "Don't waste any time brother. If you want to be with her, just… don't waste any time."

Stefan had nothing to say in response to that. Damon was right of course. They may be vampires, but even though they were more durable than humans, being alive tomorrow was never a guarantee.

If anyone knew about time being too short, it was Damon.

As they pulled up to the house, Stefan reached over and unbuckled Damon's seat belt. Damon muttered a quick thanks, before stumbling out of the car. He leaned against it. feeling a little dizzy. He hated the way the codeine they gave him was affecting him. Stefan made his way over and offered him a hand, but Damon just shook his head. "I'm going to go out back for a bit, try to clear my head."

Stefan nodded without argument and watched as Damon slowly made his way over to the side of the mansion and out of sight.

* * *

Jeremy heard the front door slam and looked up from the books he and Bonnie were going through. Seeing Stefan step into the room, alone, he was surprised. "That took a little longer than expected?" He said, glancing out the window at the night sky.

"Damon was being difficult, as usual." Stefan sighed.

Bonnie laughed, but didn't say anything, continuing to read her grimiore.

"So you just left him there?" Jeremy asked, noticing Damon's absence, letting out a little chuckle.

Stefan dropped the keys on the side table and grinned. "I wish. He said he wanted to be alone so he went to the back for a little while."

A look of concern ghosted across Bonnie's face as she looked up from her book. "Are you sure it's a good idea to leave him alone right now? How is his hand?"

"He'll be okay. Said he was still in pain, even though they gave him some painkillers back at the hospital." Stefan assured her. "If anything happens, or he calls out, I'll be able to hear him." He walked through the room and let himself fall onto the couch opposite them. Vampire's didn't need much sleep, but he found that he was exhausted. He listened closely for other sounds coming from the house, and was surprised when he heard nothing. "Where is everyone?"

Jeremy stood up and gently placed the book he'd been reading on the coffee table. "Klaus and Freya went back to the house, said something about opening it up and dusting it out. I think Rebekah went off with Matt back to his house."

"What about Ric and Jo. They aren't back from the hospital yet?" Stefan asked.

Jeremy smirked, hearing the unanswered question. "Caroline called and said that they needed to go and get a truck or something, to be able to fit all the stuff they're bringing. They'll be a little longer than planned." He shuffled on over to his duffel bag, resting on the floor by the doorway. He'd been too lazy the night before to bring it upstairs. Opening the front zipper, he pulled out a tiny bag and shoved it in his pocket. "I'm gonna go outside and see how Damon's doing."

Bonnie met his eyes questioningly. He just sent her a quick smile and a nod to Stefan before he made his way to the back and out the door onto the patio. It only took him a second to locate Damon, he hadn't gone that far. He was laying on the grass, his upper body leaning against a large tree.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he slowly walked over to meet him.

As he got closer, Damon's eyes popped open, startled, before he realized who it was. Jeremy smirked, realizing that he'd taken him by surprise now that he was a human. "Told Stefan I wanted to be alone. It was a blanket statement for everyone." He muttered.

Jeremy shrugged, leaning over and sitting next to him on the ground. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the bag, followed by a lighter. He held it up to show Damon the rolled up joint and sent him a smile. "Just returning the favor! Heard you were still hurting."

Damon let out a chuckle. "I've been a human for about twenty four hours and you want me to smoke a joint?"

"Eh, just trying to help. If you're too afraid to try it-" Damon grumbled something that Jeremy couldn't understand, snatched the bag from Jeremy's hand and shook the joint into his lap. Tossing the baggie to the side, he picked up the joint and shoved it into his mouth, then reached out and grabbed the lighter from Jeremy's hand.

Jeremy tried holding back his laughter and Damon struggled with the lighter, flicking it a few times before it finally produced a flame. He lit the end of the joint and sucked in deeply, drawing the smoke into his mouth. Damon held his breath for a moment, then let his eyes close and his head fall back to the tree before exhaling, blowing a few smoke rings in the air.

Impressed, Jeremy let out a whistle.

Damon opened his heavy eyelids. "What, you think I've never smoked before?"

Jeremy adjusted himself on the ground to get more comfortable and reached to take the joint from Damon. He took a pull of his own before finally responding. "Never really thought about it. Didn't know vampire's were into drugs."

Finally able to relax a little, Damon sighed. "Tried it a few times as a vampire. Wasn't the same as when I was human though."

Jeremy looked at him curiously. "You smoked when you were human?"

Damon let out a sound of disgust. "I knew we shouldn't have skipped you through high school. Of course I smoked when I was human. I served in the war, we smoked all the time."

Insulted, Jeremy frowned. "I'm better off in college." He said, trying to defend himself.

Shooting him a disapproving look, Damon closed his eyes again. "Jer, I know what you've been up to. I've been trying to cover for you on my end, but one of these days, Elena's going to figure it out. It might help if you would call her more often and keep in touch. She worries about you."

Jeremy ignored the part about Elena. "Alaric TOLD you?!" He asked, almost screeching.

Damon winced. "No, he didn't tell me anything. I needed to make sure you were okay so I checked in on you."

"You had someone spying on me this whole time?" Jeremy asked. He'd been so careful to only use the credit card in the area that he was supposed to be, and only on "school essentials." He thought he'd thrown them all off.

"I wouldn't call it a someone really…" Damon said, drifting off a little. His arm had finally stopped throbbing and the nausea was gone. He finally felt able to relax. Marijuana now was definitely a lot different than it used to be. He wondered if it was laced with anything. He was about to ask when he realized that he just didn't care. He felt okay… for the moment. That was all that mattered.

"Okay…" Jeremy said, not fully understanding. He watched as Damon raised his casted hand and pointed up at the tree above him. "You asked the trees to spy on me?"

Maybe he shouldn't have given him drugs. Damon wasn't making a lick of sense.

Damon snorted a little. "Bird." And yes, Jeremy could see it now. A dark raven hanging out in the branches, almost completely hidden by the shadows.

Still not following, Jeremy questioned him further hoping to get a little more information. "You asked birds to follow me around?"

Sighing, Damon opened his eyes again. Jeremy could see they were slightly out of focus. "Just one. The one sitting above us now. He followed you when you came back here, and he apparently doesn't feel the need to leave. I'm surprised though, thought he would be long gone by now. It's not like I have a connection to his mind anymore." He glanced up at the raven.

Jeremy noted the sadness in Damon's voice. Trying to lighten the mood a little, he laughed. "Who would have thought. Damon… raven whisperer. Are all vampires able to do that?"

"Did you notice any of them doing that when you were killing them up and down the west coast?" Damon asked.

Taking another hit of the joint, Jeremy shook his head. "No. So it's just you then…?"

Damon shrugged. "Never met anyone else that could, maybe they just didn't know that they could. But it's not as if I'm the type to go around sharing trade secrets." The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile.

They sat in silence for a while, passing the joint back and forth between them. Neither knew of anything else to say and they didn't want to bring up what was going on, or not going on, back in the house.

"Why didn't you kill any of them?" Damon asked finally.

"Hmm?" Jeremy asked, not understanding.

Damon cleared his throat, suddenly wishing for a huge glass of ice water. "The vampires you were tracking down. I know you saw your share of a few of them. But you never killed any of them. Just watched."

Jeremy sighed. "As a hunter, there was nothing more that I wanted. But then I would get close to doing it, and I would think about my sister. And Caroline… you and Stefan and Ric… Ana." Jeremy leaned over and started playing with the blades of grass next to his legs. "Who am I to pass judgement on them? I didn't know them. They could be good vampires. They could have little brothers at home or families that needed them." He shrugged. "I knew if I stumbled on one killing or hurting someone, I'd have no problem putting a stake through their hearts, but otherwise… I just couldn't do it." He let out a pathetic laugh. "I'm a horrible Hunter."

Damon looked off to the side, into the shadow of the trees and smiled. "I'm kinda proud of you." He said. "But don't let it get to your head." He warned. Jeremy let out a little laugh, still playing with the grass. He was too embarrassed to meet Damon's eye.

Jeremy could count on one hand, the times that Damon has given him a compliment. But this felt more important than all the other times combined.

When Damon had stayed silent for more than a minute, Jeremy finally let himself look up, thinking that he'd fallen asleep. He was surprised to see that Damon's eyes were wide and he wasn't blinking, as if he were searching for something in the darkness. "Damon?"

"Jer, go back inside. I'd really like that alone time now." Damon said, his voice hushed. Jeremy could hear that he'd sobered up a little and hoped that the pain hadn't returned along with it.

Jeremy debated leaving him alone, but finally conceded. "Okay. Just call out if you need help getting back to the house, I think you may have smoked too much." He boosted himself up from the ground, brushing the grass off of his pants. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

He watched as a few expressions crossed Damon's face and was about to ask again when Damon finally met his gaze. "I think so."

Jeremy nodded and made his way back up to the house.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Damon spoke.

"You can come out now." Damon whispered, having seen a glimpse of the ghostly figure behind the trees. He wasn't sure if it was her at first, but he'd seen a flash of blonde hair and a wave of her white dressing gown as the breeze had brushed past for a moment.

His shoulders sagged, releasing tension that he didn't realize was there until now. He may be high, he may be hallucinating, but at this point, he didn't care. He just needed to see her, no matter what form she was in.

It felt like it took forever, her head finally poked out from behind a tree. She stepped out from behind it cautiously, almost as if she were afraid.

The moonlight made her look even more beautiful than she had earlier, casting an inhuman aura around her. Her blonde hair glowed, creating a halo above her head and her white dress flowed around her legs as if she were an angel sent down from heaven to comfort him.

That's what she'd always been to him anyway.

He smiled.

Elena was back.

* * *

**I nearly had a nervous breakdown when I couldn't get into the website to update. I tried to "follow" a story the other day too and it wouldn't let me. **

**I was terrified that fanfiction dot net was going to be gone forever and I'd actually have time on my hands to be productive! How gross is that? **

**ONLY ONE MONTH, ONE WEEK AND FOUR DAYS UNTIL MYSTIC FALLS! (BUT WHO'S REALLY COUNTING...?)**

**Follow me on twitter for updates or just to say hello! HisGem**


	20. Chapter 20

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 20**

Driving through the night in her "borrowed" van, Caroline had a lot to think about. Or rather, she had a lot to think about, but she was trying her hardest NOT to think, at all. But there was really only so much singing she could do at the top of her lungs, especially to the garbage that was on the radio. She'd been disappointed when she realized she couldn't hook her phone up into the van and play her own music through the speakers.

The stupid thing only had a cassette player.

She shook her head, frustrated. Next time she stole a van, she'd have to make sure it had a list of requirements.

Speaking of lists, she should really make a list of everyone she needed to apologize to.

And probably a list of people she killed.

Although she didn't want to be creepy like Stefan and start writing on walls or anything. But maybe she could list them and find out if they had any family and do something for them somehow to ease her conscience. It certainly wouldn't FIX or make up for anything that she'd done… but it was a good start, right?

Then she could throw out the list and never think about it, EVER again.

She glanced over at the dashboard clock and saw that she was about thirty minutes away from the boarding house, so calling Klaus now would be a good idea. Hopefully he wasn't busy and they could get everything into the house to get the show on the road.

Elena would be up and about in no time.

And Caroline could begin her groveling.

She lifted one hand off the steering wheel to run it through her hair, fluffing it a little bit, before groaning. There was no way she was primping before CALLING Klaus. "Ugh!" She shouted, glad no one was there to see her making a fool out of herself.

She reached over and grabbed her phone, then pressed her speed dial. While she waited for Klaus to pick up she tried to rationalize that it was easier to have him on speed dial than not to. Whenever she called him it was because there was an emergency. There was no reason other than that.

Really.

Realizing that she was acting like a crazy person, she stopped trying to rationalize her own actions.

"Hello love. I assume you're back in Mystic Falls?" Klaus's voice said, coming over the line. The connection wasn't the best, but Caroline relaxed as soon as she heard his voice over the phone.

Because he can help your friend, she thought, that's the only reason why. He can help you fix your own mistakes.

Caroline sighed, tired of fighting with herself. "Close. I'm about twenty-five minutes from the boarding house. Are you able to meet me there?" She asked.

She could hear shuffling on the phone, followed by what she assumed was a glass being put onto a table. "Of course, I'll be there when you get there. I'll see you shortly Caroline." And without another word, he hung up on her.

Staring at her phone in confusion, not understanding why he'd passed on the opportunity to flirt, she finally shrugged and tossed it onto the passenger seat.

It's not that she WANTED him to flirt, it was just so out of the norm that she wasn't used to it. Had he really been changed so much while he was gone? It had only been a few months since she'd seen him last and even then he hadn't changed that much. But, thinking about it, he hadn't really flirted with her the night before either. He'd brought her home, tucked her into bed and brought her a steaming cup of chamomile tea to help her relax. They hadn't spoken about anything personal, he'd just took his place next to her in her bed and let her cry on him for hours, until her nose was stuffed up and her eyes were disgustingly puffy. He'd listened to her blubber on about her mother and all the horrible things she'd done since her death, only stopping her to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

She'd fallen asleep with her head in his lap, his fingers running through her hair comfortingly.

"Maybe he really has changed…" She said out loud to no one.

Lost in thought, she was surprised when she pulled into the Salvatore's driveway, startled to realize that she didn't remember actually getting there. Throwing the car into park, she turned the keys to shut it off. She sat in silence for only a moment before opening the door and jumping hopping out.

She opened the back of the van and sighed, looking at the contraption Jo had made her grab. It was a large and clunky machine, and while the weight of it wouldn't really be a problem for her super strength, it was so large that it was difficult to get her arms around it.

Headlights swept into the driveway behind her and she turned, to see Klaus pulling up behind her. Surprised that it had taken him the full twenty-five minutes to get there, he only lived a few miles away, she put her hand on her hip, ready to tease him about his driving skills.

Klaus got out of the car, closing the driver side door behind him and without looking at her, went to open the back door. He leaned into the car for a few brief moments, before pulling out the car seat.

Caroline dropped the hand on her hip, stunned. She watched as he closed the door and stepped toward her, meeting her by the car. "You brought your baby with you?"

He shrugged, a lazy smile on his face. "Couldn't exactly leave her home alone, could I love?"

Caroline had no comeback for that.

He glanced inside the van. "I assume we need to get that upstairs?" She only nodded dumbly at him, still glancing down at the carrier in his hands.

Lifting it up, he held out the handle to her. "You grab Hope, I'll grab this torture device and we can get moving, alright?"

She nodded again, holding out her hand and taking the carrier. Spinning it slightly, she glanced down and smiled down at the sleeping baby. Looking up, her tearful gaze met Klaus's. "You named her Hope?"

Caroline noticed that his face had never looked so relaxed before, and the smile he shot her was genuine. "She IS my Hope." Klaus said, as if it explained everything.

And, it did.

He broke eye contact, leaning over and grabbing the machine from the van and lifting it as if it weighed nothing. Caroline stepped back, holding the carrier carefully, watching Klaus's muscles ripple under the back of his shirt.

Wasn't anything wrong with looking, she always reminded herself.

She was about to go to the front door and open it for him, when she noticed that it was already open, Stefan standing against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, watching them. His lips were pressed into a thin line, but his eyes held no clue as to what he was thinking.

Caroline blushed guiltily, embarrassed that Stefan had seen the moment she had with Klaus. Then realized that she shouldn't feel guilty. It's not like she belonged to either one of them. She squared her shoulders and walked into the house, saying a quick thank you as she passed him.

"Caroline-" Stefan started.

"Shhh." Caroline said. "The baby is asleep." She whispered. Any excuse to not have to talk to him.

She just wasn't ready yet.

Knowing how badly she had screwed up with him, she would need to think long and hard about the speech that she needed to give him. She'd probably have to write down several drafts just to make sure she got everything down. She didn't want to forget anything that she needed to say.

She sent him an apologetic smile and he nodded in return, seeming to understand that she needed her space. Unfolding his arms, he took a quick look down at the baby and smiled. "I'll go help Klaus get everything upstairs." He whispered, stepping out the door and out of sight.

Caroline let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Damon watched as the angel stepped closer, smiled softly down at him, amusement in her eye.

"Why are you smoking pot with my little brother?" She asked, sounding nothing like an angel at all and tilting her head to the side. Her voice sounded different, but the scolding tone was more than familiar.

Damon shrugged, his shoulders rolling against the bark of the tree. It was uncomfortable, but he couldn't find it in himself to care all that much. "Ah, you know. Figured since I'm human now, I can get high all I want. New experiences and all that."

He was rewarded with a swift kick to his knee from her bare foot. He shot up from the ground. "Ow." He said, leaning forward and rubbing it with his casted wrist. "Don't do that, I'm fragile."

Elena's blue eyes widened, seeing the cast. "Oh my God, Damon, what happened?" She immediately dropped down to her knees beside him and gently grasped his casted hand.

Shocked that he was actually touching her, it took a moment for him to respond. "Punched a wall." He said, dazed.

She sent him a disapproving look. "You're human, you can't do that sort of thing anymore."

Damon rolled his eyes in response. "So I've been told." He muttered. Glancing at her dress, he noticed that she'd gotten grass stains on it. "You're getting dirty."

Elena glanced down at where Damon was staring. "Ah, who cares. I don't even know why I'm wearing this. It's what I woke up in the first time, but not what I'm wearing right now."

Damon observed her for a minute, taking in her words. "You seem a little more coherent than the last time we spoke."

Meeting his gaze, Elena sighed. "I really wanted to see you." She shook her head. "I'm not sure this is even real right now."

"And, now you're talking crazy again." Truthfully, he wasn't sure if it was her or him that was crazy. He knew Elena was upstairs, laying in his bed. Thankfully NOT dead. But was she just stuck in there waiting for them to wake her up? Was he just imagining this girl talking to him because he'd been thinking of how Elena hallucinated him when he was "dead?"

Or had she really successfully jumped into this beautiful girl by his side?

Without breaking contact with her hands, he used his legs to shuffle into a better position, leaning against a tree. "Talk to me like you normally do, not in riddles. Let's start with you telling me what you're ACTUALLY wearing right now." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, hoping to make her more comfortable with a joke.

It seemed to work as her eyes lit up and she laughed a little. She reached over and grasped his good hand and he was again amazed that he could actually feel her.

These were some good drugs. He'd have to thank Jeremy later.

"Don't get excited, it's not sexy." Elena admitted. "I'm wearing light blue… scrubs." At his look of confusion, she continued. "I'm in the hospital."

Damon tightened his hand around hers, sending her a look of concern. "Are you hurt?'

She shook her head. "Nah, just crazy apparently."

Elena leaned over, making herself comfortable, and gently rested her head on his shoulder. As she shifted, Damon lifted his good arm and wrapped it around her. "How is everyone holding up?" She asked, burying her head into his shirt and breathing in his scent.

He chuckled. "Always worrying about us." Sighing, he figured he'd give her the short version. "Well, I'm pretty sure Jeremy and Bon-Bon made up. Klaus showed up, too late to do anything, but he had a book on traveling so I suppose he's useful sometimes. He brought Rebekah who's been doing nothing but flirting with Matt and a NEW sister that just seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Oh yeah… and while he's been away he's magically managed to become a father to a little baby girl. Caroline is NOT pleased."

Elena leaned forward to stare at him, a look of shock on her face. "Are you messing with me? Klaus has a BABY?"

Grinning down at her, Damon nodded. "Apparently it's Haley's but we haven't gotten the back story on that one yet." He threaded his fingers through her hair.

Elena nodded, thoughtful. "Why would Caroline even care?"

"Mmm… he compelled her to turn her emotions back on. There was crying, and apologies all around. Then he took her home for the night." He watched as Elena's eyebrow raised. "Yeah, not gonna ask what happened with that. Stefan seems a little bitter. He's got more lines on his forehead than usual."

Damon thought about what else was going on, but he could feel his own eyes drooping. He was beat, but he didn't want to fall asleep with her there next to him. "Ric and Jo went to the hospital to go get some supplies. Your body's just desiccated, so the new Barbie Klaus says, so we're going to pump Klaus's blood into you and then you'll wake up and this nightmare will be over."

Elena smiled sadly. "I wish that was true."

Their eyes locked. "Elena, everything is going to be okay, I promise. Have I ever broken a promise to you before?" He said, his voice low and serious.

If only it could be real. Elena thought to herself. If only it could be that SIMPLE.

She would stay with him in this dream forever.

Watching as he blinked several times, trying to fight sleep, she tried to hide her sadness. "No, no… you've never broken a promise." She reached up and kissed his cheek softly, feeling the beginning of stubble against her lips. "Go to sleep Damon."

Damon frowned, even as his eyes dropped closed. "Will you be here when I wake up?"

"I promise I'll try my hardest to be." She said. It was really the best thing that she could do. Who knows how long it would be before she woke up in the real world, but she would be damned if she didn't stay to watch over him as he slept.

A light smile lifted his lips and he kissed the top of her hair before leaning back more comfortably against the tree. "Night 'Lena. Love you."

Elena watched him as he drifted off to sleep, after his breath evened out and his shoulders relaxed completely, she lifted her hand and placed it over his heart, happy to feel the strong beat under her fingertips. "I love you too Damon." She whispered, leaning her head back on his shoulder.

She wished with all her heart that they could somehow figure it out, but knowing what she did being in that hospital, had almost no hope. If anything, the pills that they'd given her made her realize just how ridiculous this life was. Where everything was magical and people came back to life. And this perfect man was hers.

As she thought, she drifted off as well, finally succumbing to sleep.

* * *

Elena wasn't sure if it was because she fell asleep in her dream, that suddenly woken her up, or the weird clicking sound she heard in the darkened room. Confused, she slowly turned over on the uncomfortable mattress, to look over in Tori's direction.

Tori herself, was completely under the covers, but her hand was poked out and she seemed to be using her nail to chip away pieces of paint on the metal bed post. Elena watched as she was able to peel away a rather large solid piece and snatch it under the cover. She could hear a slight muttering, but couldn't make out what Tori was saying. It was followed by a quick laugh and a different scraping sound.

Elena sat up, pushing the covers off of her. "Tori?" She whispered, not wanting to alert the nurses right away. The door was wide open so that they could do their rounds, which Mary explained they would do about every half an hour. They weren't allowed to have the doors closed at night. "Tori?" She stood and took a few steps toward the other bed.

The blankets over Tori jerked slightly at Elena's voice and stilled, but the laughing continued, getting a little louder. Finally, Tori poked her head out from under the covers and looked directly at Elena, her eyes more clear than she'd ever seen them. But the smile that graced her face was nothing but crazy.

"They're coming to get you." Tori whispered, her grin expanding to show all her teeth. She rose quickly from the bed, the covers falling half onto the floor as she sped toward Elena, stopping directly in front of her.

Elena stepped back with a gasp. Tori's arms were dripping blood onto the floor, the piece of chipped paint held firmly in her fingers.

Tori reached up and gripped her shoulder, squeezing tight, the paint chip falling to the floor. From this angle, Elena could see that Tori had carved words into her arm, GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART.

"He's going to get you. You can't get away from him. He's coming. Goodnight sweetheart! Goodnight!" Her voice rose until she was screeching at the top of her lungs, repeating the words over and over.

Elena struggled, but couldn't manage to break away, her own scrubs becoming covered in blood.

She screamed.

* * *

**Sorry for the long delay folks! I was in Nevada for a business trip and didn't have time to do any kind of writing. Which sucked, because I'd really planned on it! Anyway, hope chapter makes up for it! **

**I started a facebook "fan" page. If you come over and like it, you'll get previews, know when chapter updates are going to go up and I'll also be posting my "Mystic Falls" pictures on there. I am going to be away from October 13th until October 20th, so there won't be any updates during that time, but I'll try to do a few before then to make up for it. On the fan page, please let me know your thoughts about what's going on! It's so much easier to chat with people through facebook or twitter. And you can use it to keep me posted on what's going on in TVD, since i'm 99.9% sure I won't be watching it. **

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	21. Chapter 21

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 21**

Between the both of them screaming, it was a wonder that it took so long for the orderlies to rush in. Thankfully , two large male nurses took an arm of Tori and pulled, ripping one of the sleeves of Elena's scrubs and sending her falling backward into someone's arms.

Elena winced as she watched the two nurses fling Tori onto the bed, one of them lifted his knee onto the middle of her back, trying to keep the girl from struggling. She hadn't noticed him enter the room behind the orderlies, but suddenly Dr. Verbodanin was next to Tori, sticking a large needle into her arm. Tori's struggles finally stopped after a moment, her crazed eyes sliding closed.

The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently and Elena turned to see that it was Mary behind her, eyes filled with concern. "Are you alright? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Elena shook her head, too shocked to speak. She shifted her eyes back forward and saw one of the nurses take Tori into his arms and leave the room. Dr. Verbodanin slid over to stand in front of her with a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry about that. She'd been doing well for so long, I thought it would be alright to give her a room mate."

He looked at her curiously. "Do you happen to know what set her off?"

Finally finding her voice, Elena answered. "Not really. She woke me up with the scratching." She gestured to the bedpost. "She was chipping off the paint and cutting herself with it."

Dr. Verbodanin nodded. "Thank you, that was going to be my next question. We're always sure to keep any sharp objects out of rooms. I was wondering how she managed to do that much damage to herself." He signed and ran a hand through his short hair. "If you're both okay, I'll take my leave. I was just finishing up some paperwork when I heard all of the commotion. Again Elena, I'm terribly sorry that happened."

Without waiting for a response, he left the room.

"Did you want to get more sleep or do you want to come out and start the day with me?" Mary said.

"What time is it?" Elena asked, confused. She could see that outside the frosted window it was only beginning to get light out.

"Around seven. It's best to get an early start here anyway, there's a lot to do in the morning, plus you have another appointment with the psychiatrist.""

Elena shrugged. "I guess I'll stay up. Pretty sure I won't be able to fall asleep after that anyway." She said, frowning. She followed Mary out into the hallway where she noticed a little medical cart was set up, a chair on each side. She took a seat after Mary gestured toward the chair. "This wasn't here yesterday."

"We only pull this out in the morning to check some things out." She sat down opposite her and pulled out a small slip of paper and a small pencil, the kind Elena had only used while writing scores down when playing mini-golf.

God, what she wouldn't give to go play mini-golf right now.

"You can pick out your daily menu while I'm getting everything set up." Mary suggested.

Pencil in hand, Elena looked it over. There were options for breakfast, lunch, a small healthy snack and dinner. Everything looked good on paper, but judging from the food she had yesterday, it wouldn't be the best. As she circled a few things on the menu, Mary slipped a plastic cover onto something connected to a wire and held it out to her, face level. "This is just a thermometer. Hold it under your tongue until it beeps." Nodding, Elena did as she said and slid it under her tongue.

Next, Mary took out a blood pressure cuff and slid it onto Elena's left arm. Elena felt it tighten as she set down her pencil. She wanted to ask her what all this was for, but couldn't since the thermometer was still in her mouth. The cuff slowly got tighter on it's own and then finally released just as the thermometer beeped. Elena took it from her mouth and handed it to Mary.

Mary gazed at the screen in front of her and smiled. "Well, at least you don't have a fever anymore and your blood pressure is closer to being back to normal. It was really low when we took it yesterday." She took of the plastic top and threw it into a plastic bag, hanging on the side of the card, then from a shelf below, pulled out three vials and a needle with a tube attached. "Now we'll just take some blood -"

Elena stared at the empty vials unhappily, feeling her mouth go dry. "Why do you need my blood?" It's not that she was afraid of needles, far from it. Just the thought of giving blood, after everyone had always been after it, made her sick to her stomach.

She shook her head, trying to remind herself that nothing like that ever happened. It was all in her head. Maybe they took a lot of blood from her after the accident and the fear of that had manifested itself in her head as people always being after her for her blood…

It made a lot more sense than being a doppelganger and her blood being used for sacrifices and witchcraft.

Glancing up from what she was doing, Mary gave her a reassuring smile. "We have to every day to make sure that the medicine is in there." She reached below again and pulled out two dixie cups. Elena noticed that one was filled with water, the other had two pills on it and had " ' written in black ink across the front. "Sometimes people spit them out or palm them. We're just making sure the right amount is in your system that should be. They also run tests on it to make sure your hormones are balanced."

Knowing that she had no choice in the matter, Elena nodded and held out her arm. After a quick pinch, Elena watched mesmerized as the tiny vials filled quickly. Mary was quick and efficient and after only a minute, the needle was out and stickers with her name were on each vial. They sat in silence in a minute until Mary placed a hand on Elena's arm. "I have to watch you take the pills."

Nodding, but not liking it one bit, but knowing she had no choice in the matter, Elena tossed back the two pills and then washed them down with the water. She crumpled both cups in her hands, trying to block out her frustration.

Mary took both cups from her and tossed them into the bag. "You can go into the rec room or try to catch some more shut-eye if you want. Breakfast is usually around eight and showers start around ten."

Elena got up and stretched. "Thanks." She muttered, trying to at least be polite. She didn't want to take out her frustration on Mary, the woman had been nothing but nice to her since she got here. She walked down the hall and to the rec room, plopping herself down on the couch. None of the other patients seemed to be awake yet, not that she wanted to hang out with them, but she wouldn't mind seeing Damien again.

She sighed.

It was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Lily tried her hardest not to twiddle her thumbs. She knew it would be rude of her, but there was just nothing to do and the awkwardness in the car was beginning to get to her.

She and Lorenzo had been driving for what seemed like hours, trying to track down her great great great….. something, niece. But she'd been nowhere to be found. Enzo tried calling the girl several times, only to be sent directly to what he'd called "voicemail."

The sun had come up just a few minutes ago and Lily marveled at all of the new and interesting landmarks as they passed. She wanted to express her excitement to Enzo, but he'd been in quite a dark mood for some time and they hadn't exchanged any words for the last few hours at least. He'd also shut the radio off some time ago, complaining about the music. She hadn't exactly LIKED said music, but it was something to fill the air, and she was interested in learning about everything that had changed while she was locked away.

Now all that was between them was silence.

It made Lily uncomfortable.

And terribly sad.

They used to be able to talk to each other about anything. For hours upon hours. She would sneak out of her bedroom at night and meet him in the barn. They would recline back in the hay and talk about everything.

It had been so many years since then, but as she gazed at him through the corner of her eye, she realized that she'd never stopped loving this man. Even as grumpy as he was right now, his lips turned into a slight frown. She stopped herself from letting out a little laugh. He may be Damon's father, but the wrinkles on his forehead resembled Stefan's and she'd heard Damon making fun of him for it a lot in the few weeks that she'd been home.

Enzo sighed from the driver's seat and reached back into his jacket, tossing the phone over to her. "Call Sarah again. Maybe she'll do the decent thing and pick up the phone this bloody time."

The phone fell into her lap and she stared at it, not knowing what to do. She'd seen her sons and Elena using it, but when they were there was always a little picture on it. What he had just tossed at her was just dark.

She fiddled with it for a moment, turning it over. Maybe it was the other side that had the pictures on it?

When she didn't respond to him right away or start dialing, Enzo took his eyes off the road to look at her angrily. But he immediately cooled off when he saw how confused she was. He'd felt the same way. And he'd felt like an idiot when he had to ask Damon for help.

"If you press the button tiny button on the side, the picture will come up." He said, making sure his voice was soft and not patronizing.

Lily's ice blue eyes snapped up to meet his and she smiled brightly.

Making him feel like a complete douche.

He'd been so focused on finding Sarah that he'd neglected to even talk to her. He'd been trying to be polite. He knew that if he'd spoken, anything he said would have come out sounding horrible, so he'd chosen to remain silent.

He realized that she, like himself, had been surrounded by silence for much too long.

Enzo flipped the radio back on, and turned it on low, just enough to have it be background noise. She'd gotten the phone to switch on and he directed he on how to get to the address book and find Sarah's phone number.

He watched as her face lit up, proud of herself for completing the simple task.

They both listened as the phone rang and were both shocked when an irate voice came over the line. "What don't you get about me ignoring your calls? I thought you didn't want to talk to me anymore? Well I don't want to talk to you-"

"Hello." Lily cut her off, wanting to get down to the point. "I'm sorry, Lorenzo has asked me to give you a call as he is driving at the moment."

There was a moment of silence on the other line before Sarah, her voice now curious, started to speak. "I'm sorry, but who are you?'

"My name is Lily Salvatore. I'm a relative. I know this may come as a shock, but there is something that we need for you to do, we are in desperate need of your help. it's a little complicated to explain. Could we possibly meet you somewhere close to where you are?"

Sarah seemed to think for a moment and Lily was sure that she had hung up, when she finally gave an answer. "Color me intrigued. Meet me by the coffee shop on campus, Enzo knows where it is. I'll be there in half an hour waiting." Without any further instructions, the girl hung up the phone.

Enzo moaned, making sure no one else was on the road and quickly made a u-turn. "Well, at least we are finally getting somewhere."

Lily grinned, happy that his voice sounded a little more relaxed. They hadn't gotten the girl to agree to anything yet, but she was confident that they would get her to help in some way. She glanced back down at the phone in her hands. "I'm so sorry that I'm not the best at picking these things up quickly. I have a lot to learn. So much has changed." She smiled. "But you'll show me, won't you?"

Snorting, Enzo looked over at her. "I hate to be the barer of bad news, but I'm still learning myself." He reached over the center console and gripped her hand. At her questioning gaze, he shook his head. "That's a story for another day."

He picked up her hand and kissed it.

"Don't worry doll. We'll learn together."

* * *

**What? No cliffhanger? Weird. **

**The Lily/Enzo thing wasn't actually in my outline at all, but I thought they deserved a moment. **

**As usual, please come join me on facebook. Facebook dot come slash TheEndOfForeverTVD or on twitter at HisGem**

**Only 8 days until my Mystic Falls trip! (well, there are other stops, but that's the first and most important) I'll be posting all the pictures on facebook and sharing the links for The Gilbert House and Mystic Falls Tours! **

**Also, just wondering if you guys have any suggestions for completed Damon/Elena stories on here. There are several that I read over and over again (Including ones on Kindle Worlds) But I'm looking for something new. My favorite time is when Stefan is away with Klaus in Season three. So if you've read any and want to pimp them out (if they are yours or your favorite authors) let me know on my fb page and I'll promote them and read them **

**Same goes for Sailor Moon, if you're a fan of that! **

**Caio for now! Hope to hear from you soon! **


	22. Chapter 22

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 22**

Caroline tested the temperature of the boiling water on the stove with her pinky finger before dropping the bottle inside. She watched it bob up and down for a moment before settling on the bottom of the pot. When she was sure it was good to go, she turned her attention back to the baby currently sitting on in the carrier on the counter.

Hope had woken up a few hours ago, but hadn't really become fussy until about half an hour before. She'd tried everything, from making silly faces to blowing raspberries with her lips, but the baby didn't seem amused.

Thankfully, she'd found the diaper bag in the back seat of Klaus's car without having to ask him for any advice. Caroline knew he was busy upstairs helping her friends and she didn't want to bother him. And for some reason, she didn't know WHY, but she didn't want him to think she was incapable of watching his daughter. She quickly changed her diaper and figured while she was at it, she may as well feed the little girl, since she didn't know how long they would be taking upstairs.

Earlier, she'd heard Jo giving Klaus instructions, on how to hold his arm out, and that it was just going to pinch for a moment. Caroline giggled, trying to picture Jo acting as if Klaus were just a regular patient of hers. As if he wasn't an all powerful Original vampire. She shook her head in amusement before checking on the bottle.

Feeling as if the formula was warm enough, she took the bottle out and squeezed a bit onto her wrist. It had been a long time since she'd done any babysitting, even longer since she'd babysat an infant, there wasn't much time for babysitting while running from crazy witches and becoming a vampire and all the crazy other supernatural crap that they'd been through in the last few years. She was sure that the temperature of the bottle was right.

Turning off the burner, she took the pot and dumped the water into the sink. She'd put it away later, before Damon threw a hissy fit. She left the bottle on the counter and reached over to unbuckle the baby from the seat. Hope gurgled a little bit, throwing both hands up in the air excitedly as if saying "Yes, yes! Food is what I wanted!"

Balancing the little girl on her right hip, she took the bottle and made her way over to the kitchen table to take a seat. Without any guidance at all, Hope snatched the bottle from Caroline's hands and began sucking.

"Hungry huh?" Caroline whispered. She held onto the top for a little support, even though it seemed like Hope was good to go.

"Never took you for the babysitting type." A voice came from the doorway.

Caroline looked up, startled to see Rebekah standing there, leaning against the door frame. She wasn't sure how to respond to this new Rebekah… until she saw the smile that graced her face when looking at Hope.

Rebekah pushed herself away from the door and took the seat next to Caroline, still smiling at the child.

"When I was nine I REALLY wanted a Barbie dream house." Caroline said, staring down at the little girl in her arms. "But my parents said that we couldn't afford it. So I figured I had to come up with a way to make money. I created little business cards flyers for babysitting and put them in peoples mailboxes all over town." She laughed. "I got a lot of business, and within a few weeks I was able to buy it on my own. Thinking about it now, I think all those parents that hired me probably just thought I was cute and gave me money, because they never really left me alone with their kids."

Rebekah laughed, tilting the chair back. "Never mind then, babysitting sounds EXACTLY like something you would do. You're very organized."

Not knowing how to take the compliment, Caroline only smiled in response. Rebekah wasn't known to be the friendly type, especially toward her. Maybe becoming human had softened the girl up a little bit. She seemed lighter in some ways, more free.

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, both of them watching as Hope sucked on the bottle sleepily.

"There's no one else in his life, in case you were concerned." Rebekah finally said.

Caroline blushed. "It's really none of my business. Even if he would have told me the last time I saw him, I didn't exactly give him the chance."

Shrugging, Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest. "Still, I thought you should know. He still cares very deeply for you. He barely looks at anyone else, except this blonde sometimes, but I think it's just because she reminds him of you."

"What about Haley?" Caroline asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Klaus had never seemed interested in Haley when she was still in Mystic Falls, at least, not that Caroline had ever seen. She did think it was a little strange that Haley wasn't around but her baby was. Had the girl just abandoned her daughter, with KLAUS?

Rebekah took a deep breath, wondering how to explain without ACTUALLY having to explain. "It's complicated. From what I know, it was a drunken one night stand. Klaus was upset about you and needed someone to comfort him and she was just there. While she was pregnant, she was actually with Elijah, but since then, she's married some wolf boy to join their packs together or something along those lines. At the moment, she's kind of stuck being a wolf. That's why she's not really around." She said, answering Caroline's unasked question.

Nodding, Caroline knew there must be more to the story, but she wasn't about to ask. It seemed like a long one and she had other things on her mind. It seemed that Klaus wasn't the only one to undergo a complete transformation of personality. Having an actual sit down conversation with the girl in front of her was weird, but not unpleasant.

"So...how did things go with Matt last night?" Caroline asked.

Rebekah's smile grew, her eyes twinkling. "Oh, I think it went well. I missed him ."

"Do you think you'll stay in town? To be with him, I mean…"

Snorting, Rebekah leaned forward and put her arm on the table, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. "Is that your roundabout way of asking if Klaus will be staying in Mystic Falls?"

Caroline's blush grew. She sputtered not really knowing the answer. Was that why she was asking? Did she really care one way or the other? She still had things to figure out about Stefan. God… she hadn't even SPOKEN to him yet, at ALL. But was it so unreasonable for her to try to figure out what her options were before speaking to him? So as to not lead him on.

She wasn't so sure.

"Either way, I'm hoping the answer is yes. If Matt wants me to stay, I'll be staying. Things have grown too crazy in New Orleans. It doesn't feel like home anymore. I'd like to try out the normal human life for a bit." Rebekah finally answered.

It was Caroline's turn to laugh. "Normal life? In Mystic Falls?"

Rebekah joined in the laughter. "Good point." She sighed. "I'll let it go, but I just want to let you know, he has changed. I'm not normally one to root for my brother, especially after how many relationships he's ruined of mine. He was a very evil man." She leaned forward and brushed her pointer finger against Hopes soft cheek. "But this little one here… she's changed him so much."

Caroline nodded in agreement. Rebekah didn't have to say anything, she'd already seen the changes with her own eyes.

She was just about to ask her to tell her more when the back door slammed open and Damon came stumbling in, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Caroline had spied him through the window sleeping against a tree but hadn't wanted to wake him seeing as he probably needed all the sleep he could get. Even though he'd looked really uncomfortable.

"You're back?" He mumbled, pulling a bottle of water from the fridge and taking a huge gulp.

"Damon, it's noon. We got back more than a few hours ago." Caroline said, surprised that he didn't realize exactly how late it was.

Not that she'd ever seen him wear a watch before.

Damon glared at her. "Well then why didn't anyone wake me up? Did we start to give Elena the blood yet?"

Rebekah stood from her seat and went back to crossing her arms. "Klaus has been giving blood to her for the last few hours,as well as putting some in some extra blood bags for future emergencies. Freya's actually helping him out to his car right now because he's so weak."

A look of hope crossed over Damon's face. "Has she woken up at all?"

Frowning, Rebekah shook her head. She didn't like Damon, she didn't like Elena all that much either, but she did have a soft spot for two people that were in love. And she did know that they'd been through an awful lot. "She's not desiccated anymore. It looks like she's just sleeping now." She assured him. "But she hasn't woken up yet."

Damon grumbled something that neither one of them could make out and swept out of the room without another word.

Caroline bit her lip, following his form with her gaze, not sure if she should go after him or not. She had a lot that she needed to say to him, maybe even more than she had to say to Stefan.

"Rebekah, could you take Hope for a little while? There's something I have to do."

* * *

Elena sighed, tilting her head back and staring at the ceiling.

Mary had taken her to her appointment with Mylea, but this time, she brought her into the office and had locked the door behind her when she left.

Elena guessed Mylea had spilled the beans about her trying to break out the day before, so it was understandable. But she'd been waiting, with nothing to do, for the last fifteen minutes.

So far, it had been an awful morning. While she hadn't been expecting top chef food, the scrambled eggs, toast and sausage she'd ordered for her "breakfast" had been disgusting. So disgusting that she'd set down her plastic spork and almost refused to eat it. Until a nurse, unfortunately not Mary, had come over and said she had to finish it before leaving the table. The woman had actually sat across from her in the cafeteria and watched her like a hawk as she tried to force down the food.

It also didn't help that she'd taken the medication on an empty stomach so much earlier. So beside her brain feeling hazy and clouded, she also had the pleasure of feeling queasy on top of it.

After she choked down her food, the nurse had let her know that she was able to take a shower. Which Elena needed badly. She'd wanted to take one after being sick the night before and after being covered in some of Tori's blood that morning, it was all that she could think about.

But the woman had followed her into the shower area and informed her that she would be watching her there as well. Elena had tried to assure her that she wasn't going to do anything to herself in the shower, but the nurse had just nodded and said that those were the rules.

Elena, embarrassed, had never taken such a fast shower in her life.

Or, maybe she had, but she just couldn't remember...

Finally she heard a key in the door and she straightened in the chair, turning her head slightly as Mylea walked in. This time, she wore a nice light pink suit, her hair was slicked back into the same tight bun as it was the day before. Trying to be on her best behavior, Elena sent a smile her way as if she were happy to see her.

Mylea didn't return it.

Okay… straight down to business today I suppose. Elena thought to herself, stiffening in her sea

Taking the seat directly in front of her, as she did the day before, Mylea sighed before flipping open a notebook and turning her gaze on Elena. "So, I heard you had an eventful morning?" She started.

"I suppose you could say that." Elena replied thoughtfully.

"Dr. Verbodanin told me that Tori was screaming about someone coming after you. How are you feeling about that?" Mylea asked. The cold look Elena had received when she'd first walked in was gone, replaced with curiosity.

"Okay, I guess." Elena shrugged. "I think maybe she needs more help than she's getting, but otherwise, I'm not really worried about it."

Mylea nodded, scribbling notes on the her pad. "You've had problems with paranoia in the past, which is why I'm asking. I don't think having someone else tell you that others were after you would be very helpful." She tapped her pen lightly on the notepad.

Elena grit her teeth. "I may have had those thoughts in the past, but I don't remember that so it doesn't really matter."

"Okay." Mylea said, dropping the subject. She leaned back in her chair, getting more comfortable. "Have you remembered anything at all?" Elena shook her head. "Any anxiety?" Again, Elena shook her head. Mylea sighed. "Anything at all that you'd like to talk about?"

"Not really." Elena admitted. She wasn't being difficult on purpose, but not having any idea what was going on, made it difficult to talk to this woman about anything. She knew she couldn't tell the woman exactly what she was thinking and exactly how she was feeling. They would never let her out. But if she really was crazy, maybe the right thing to do WAS to tell her.

Elena found herself conflicted.

If she really had a problem and Mystic Falls was all in her head, she really needed help.

If she lied her way thought these sessions and through the rest of her "treatment" then got out and continued to think she was someone else, that would be a problem and she didn't want that.

But another part of her... really wanted it to be true. She NEEDED Damon to be real. She needed EVERYONE to be real.

If she got out and found out that it really was all a dream, would she try to kill herself again?

She wasn't really sure. She knew that Aunt Judith and that Margaret loved her. Or, they loved the person they knew before. But she just wasn't that person. She didn't know if she ever could be. The thought of having a life without the people she loved, was just... unbearable.

"How did you sleep last night? Any dreams?"

Elena's head snapped up. She'd gotten so lost in thought that she'd forgotten she was even in the room with Mylea. These pills were horrible.

Mylea's question was one that Elena didn't know if she should answer. She wanted to at least give Mylea the impression she was trying cooperate, so maybe she could mention a little bit. "I slept okay. Had a normal dream."

"What was it about?"

"Um…." Elena struggled. "I don't remember much. Just a man."

Mylea's pen hovered above the paper. "Did you know this man?"

Elena shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I feel like I knew him, but I don't think I've ever seen him before. He looked a little like Damien, but grown up."

Expression becoming suspicious, Mylea leaned forward in her chair. "Did he tell you to do anything, or put any suggestion in your head?"

Taken aback, Elena shook her head. "No, nothing like that at all. He had a hurt hand and we were talking about that. And he was telling a story about other people. Then he fell asleep and I watched him for a while. Then I woke up. It was actually very pleasant."

"Hurt his hand?" Mylea said, making a quick note. "Elena are you sure you've never met this man before? Please be honest with me. We're not going to get anywhere with these sessions if you aren't."

Was she supposed to lie?

Trying to be completely honest, Elena took a deep breath. "I feel like I know him, but I don't think he's real."

Mylea stared at her, giving her a suspicious look. After a few moments of complete silence, where Elena felt like her skin was crawling, Mylea finally stood, letting her notebook fall onto the chair as she took her keys and made her way over to the medicine cabinet.

Elena cringed. "They already gave me my pills this morning. Mary watched."

Mylea threw a quick smile over her shoulder. "Oh, I'm aware. I need to up your dosage though." She said, unlocking the cabinet.

Elena stood, but made sure to keep her distance. "Please don't. It already makes me feel horrible."

Mylea turned with two pills in her hand and a small bottle of water. She shot her a sympathetic look. "Elena, I'm sorry but you are under age and your Aunt has advised that we do as much possible to help you. As long as you do what we say, and take your medicine like a good girl, you'll be out of here in no time. But if you fight us, it's just going to take longer for you to get better." She held out the pills and the water.

Begrudgingly, Elena took it and threw the two pills into her mouth, washing them down quickly with the water, nearly choking on them. She knew she was going to be so sick later. "Here." She said, pushing the water back to Mylea.

"You can keep it. Finish the whole thing, it might make you feel better. You are probably a little dehydrated anyway." She said, locking the cabinet back up. "Now come. We're not going to be able to get much else done today, and I hear that Mary has a little surprise waiting for you back at the rec room."

As Elena followed Mylea out of the room, she wondered if a surprised was a good or a bad thing.

* * *

**Greetings! So sorry for the wait! **

**"Mystic Falls" was so amazing. And so was the fake "NOLA" Covington and Conyers Georgia was beautiful. I highly suggest, if you ever get the chance, to go visit and take the tours. The tours are run by Vampire Stalkers (you can find them on facebook) I'll share a link on my facebook fan page. **

**Also, staying at The Gilbert House was AMAZING. It was so strange, stepping out in the morning onto the porch and just thinking ... holy crap... I'm on THAT porch. I just stood there and took it in. I'll also share a link for them on my facebook page as well. The owners of the house are so sweet and amazing and they really love the fans. Though not a part of the Vampire Stalkers tour, they were the ones who told me how to get to Wickery Bridge. **

**Come like my page on facebook to see some pictures! slash TheEndOfFOreverTVD**

**I bought an awesome surprise grab bag from The Vampire Stalkers store and I think I'll be giving things away every 50 likes I get on there, so pop on over and give me a like and check it out. **

**I haven't watched any of Season 7 yet. Have you? **

**I was supposed to watch them with my friend, but he's been stuck in another country so once he gets back we're planning on watching them together. I have no interest, but it's something we've always done together, and I don't plan on breaking the tradition now. However, I don't think I'll ever be watching live again. Which makes me terribly sad. **

**Anyway, Hope you liked the chapter. I know it all seems filler, and I suppose it is, but it's all important, I promise. **


	23. Chapter 23

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 23**

Damon had been standing outside his own bedroom door for about the past ten minutes, just staring.

Everyone had been on their way downstairs as he'd been going up.. "New" Barbie Klaus had her arm around Klaus's shoulder and even though weak, Klaus didn't miss the chance to send a smug smile his way while passing. Jo and Alaric had followed behind, sympathetic looks on their faces. They'd let him know that they were staying and would be just downstairs if he needed anything.

What he needed was Elena, and it didn't seem like they could do anything about that.

Yes, they'd done all they could. Yes, she was cured now, with Klaus's blood running through her veins. But they'd let him know that she showed no signs of life otherwise. Oh, her heart was beating, in the slight, sluggish way that it does for vampires, but other than that, she just wasn't… there.

Forcing himself to move forward, Damon pushed open the door, stepped through and closed it behind him.

And there she was. Laying as if she were sleeping. Like any other normal day.

Someone, Bonnie or Jo hopefully, had changed her into regular clothes. He saw that the robe was hanging back up on it's hook by the bathroom and he was grateful. From what was visible under the covers, he could see that she was wearing one of his button down shirts.

Just like she had been the first morning she'd been with him.

Damon shook his head and pushed the happy memory into the back of his head.

He made his way over to the bed. One of his chairs had been moved to the side of it, right next to a large contraption that he only assumed was what they'd brought back from the hospital to transfer the blood with. Klaus must have been sitting in the chair when they were doing the transfusion.

Damon threw himself down into it and stared at Elena.

It did look like she was just sleeping.

Reaching over, he stroked the back of her cheek with his good hand. "Baby?"

Hey, it couldn't hurt to try…

When she didn't even flinch, he leaned back in the seat and took her hand in his, rubbing the back of her knuckles with his thumb. He gazed down at the ring he'd given her, still sitting on her finger.

He sighed. How long had it been now? Only two days? If even that...it had felt like a lifetime.

Damon thought back to the dream he'd had last night, where she'd visited him as the blonde again. Her not waking up had to mean that she had actually traveled into that body. Though how she was visiting him was still a mystery to him. She never gave him enough information to find her and he'd been an idiot the night before, for not staying awake long enough to actually get anything out of her.

The only thing he knew, was that she'd been labeled as crazy and put into an institution.

Which didn't help matters at all.

And he wasn't even sure if it was just his brain playing tricks on him! How was he supposed to go about finding a girl that he didn't know the name of, in a mental institution? Just pop in to every single one, have Stefan compel the staff and look around?

He sighed. What he needed was for Enzo and his mother to figure out where the hell Sarah was so that she could do a spell. Or track down some other traveler that could do it.

Thinking back to the tracking spell that Stefan had done the day before, he realized that it didn't work at all, if his dreams were right. His blood had dripped onto Mystic Falls. There was no institution in, or close to, Mystic Falls.

He hadn't forgotten the promise to her, that he made two nights ago. He WOULD find her. Even if it did mean going into every crazy house in the United States. He didn't exactly have as long as he'd like, since he was human now, but he would search for her for the rest of his life, if necessary.

When it came to the women he loved, he could be very persistent.

He almost missed the light tap on the door, and before he was able to tell whoever it was to go away, the door opened and Caroline popped her head in.

"Go away Barbie." He groaned.

She stepped in and closed the door, leaning on it. She had the decency to look slightly bashful. "I'm sorry, I know you want to be alone. But I really need to talk to you."

"I get it, you're sorry. You already said so, no need to repeat yourself. You can go now." He waved his casted hand in the air, dismissing her. Or at least, attempting to.

She sighed, pushing her hair away from her face nervously. "There's more though. Just… give me a few minutes and I'll be out of your way. I promise."

Knowing that it was better to get it over with than to spend the time arguing with her, he propped both feet up onto the bed, crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. "You have five minutes." He conceded.

She took a deep breath, getting ready to speak and then struggled to find the words.

Damon tapped his wrist. "Time's a-tickin' Caroline."

"Okay okay… I'm sorry." At his glare, she waved her hands frantically. 'No, that's not what I meant. Well, it IS, just, not about that." She stopped her words short and took a deep breath realizing that she should have practiced her speech in the hall. Or written something. With bullet points.

"I've always hated you-"

"Not a good start Care." Damon said, jaw clenching.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Will you just let me finish?" She pushed herself away from the door and sat on the opposite side of the bed and making sure to remain completely focused on Damon. She couldn't bring herself to look at Elena just yet. She couldn't let herself get distracted. Not if she wanted to say what she needed to.

"I hated you. And I'm sorry. I usually don't. When I get angry at someone, I usually stay angry at them for a little while and then I let it go and all is forgiven. In your case, it was different. You did horrible things to me and I know that half of those things, I let you do without having to be compelled. I think part of me hating you was because I hated myself. But… It was just easier to place the blame on you." She lowered her gaze, suddenly interested in picking at the non-existent dirt underneath her fingernails. "Especially when I saw how you treated Elena, compared to how you treated me. I was jealous. I was ALWAYS jealous of Elena. She could get anyone to like her almost instantly without even trying. But she's so nice to everyone that you can't really hate her for it."

She sighed, sparing a quick glance over to Elena. It almost felt wrong, having this conversation with him while talking over her body, without her here. Caroline knew that it was a conversation that she should have had with him a long time ago, even before she learned even more.

"You've gone out of your way to save me more than once. You've risked your LIFE for me. You almost died for me… and I never said thank you." Finally brave enough, she looked up to meet his bright blue eyes. "And the first time when my mom found out about what I was, I MAY have overheard you talking to her. You stood up for me. You didn't have to. I never told you how much that meant to me."

Caroline laughed. "You were the first person to EVER stick up for me. And I still hated you."

Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the conversation, Damon shrugged. "Caroline, you don't have to-"

"NO!" She held up her hand and pointed at him. "I still have like… two and a half minutes to talk and you can't stop me."

"You SAVED my mother. I mean… I always knew you were sort of friends, but I didn't know that you cared for her so much. So much that you would risk your life for hers. You literally DIED for her..."

Damon noticed the tears gathering in her eyes and instantly felt a little twitchy. Angry Caroline, he could handle. Crying Caroline… he wasn't quite used to.

"I wish you'd just SAID something. But, I know you couldn't because you were dead and all. I could have lost her so much earlier than I did. I feel like… If I had known, I would have been able to appreciate that time more." She said sadly.

Damon watched, alarmed, as she waved her hands wildly in the air. "And not only THAT, but I should have given you some sort of leeway or something. Because I KNEW your emotions were switched off when you got here and even though I didn't totally know what that meant, I know what Stefan was like when HIS switch was off. And you were TOTALLY better by comparison. I mean, you didn't rip people's heads off or anything." Damon almost tried to stop her to let her know that that wasn't quite the truth, but when he saw she only stopped to take a deep breath, he didn't bother. "I forgave Stefan INSTANTLY, so why wouldn't I give you the same courtesy. And now since I KNOW what it's like, well… I really have no excuse to hate you anymore." Her eyes were wide and she was almost panting, but it seemed like she was finished talking… hopefully.

Not used to having to comfort others, beside Elena, and he wasn't even so sure he was very good at that, Damon stood and walked over to the side of the bed where Caroline was sitting. He took a seat in front of her, obscuring her view of Elena. He wasn't sure if he just wanted the conversation over, hoping that she would leave or if it had something to do with the "new feelings" he was having as a human.

Damon reached over and placed a hand on Caroline's. "You're forgiven."

Caroline shook her head. "It's just not as simple as that!" She exclaimed, shaking her head, blonde curls flying around her face. "I KNEW you had your humanity turned off when you first got here. Now I know what that's like and I just wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry-" She repeated, trying to get her point across.

Squeezing her hand, he looked so intensely into her eyes that she was almost sure he was compelling her…. if it weren't for the fact that he was obviously human and he wasn't an original that could compel other vampires…

"Caroline. Stop apologizing. I was a shitty person to you, regardless of whether I had my humanity switched on or off. It was wrong of me and I should have said that I was sorry the moment I switched it back on. It should have been said, and I'm sorry that I never told you."

Caroline's gaze softened. "Apology accepted." She said, grinning. Despite the horrible situation, she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders almost immediately.

Trying to hide his sigh of relief, Damon chuckled. "Now that THAT'S over with, when are you going to speak to my poor brother?" He asked, his eyes flaring. He was glad to change the subject, any means necessary.

He wasn't afraid to fight dirty.

Caroline's cheeks instantly turned bright pink. Why did everyone want to bring up her love life today? "He's on the list to be spoken to…" She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Tilting his head to the side, Damon analyzed her. "You legitimately have no idea who to choose, do you?"

Staring at him, Caroline was taken aback. "I don't know what you mean." She said, trying to brush his question off as if it were nothing.

Realizing that she was lying, Damon grinned deviously. "I mean, you don't know who to pick. Will you choose Stefan, the golden boy with the hero hair and always good intentions? Or the dark and mysterious, NOT as dark and mysterious as myself, may I remind you, bad boy that gets your blood flowing." He teased.

Caroline crossed her arms in a huff. "I am SO not having this conversation with you."

Damon held up his hands in surrender. "Just trying to help."

She sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Elena's still body. It sure would be nice to have someone to talk to about this… Elena would understand. She'd been in a SERIOUS love triangle, and she'd ended up picking the bad boy. Caroline wondered how Elena would feel if she were to choose Klaus over Stefan. She'd never mentioned anything before but Caroline wondered if Elena would hate her if she did. After all, Klaus HAD killed her aunt. And tried to kill … well, pretty much everyone they knew.

And Tyler's mother.

Tyler… ugh. She thought. She was going to have to go downstairs and apologize to him also. She really had a lot of groveling to do.

Caroline sighed again. Her brain was running a mile a minute, but she really needed to talk to SOMEONE.

"I just don't know what to do." She admitted, lifting her arms up and dropping them quickly on her knees in frustration. "I really like the both of them, a lot. But I know that Stefan is the better and safer choice."

Damon held back a smirk, glad he had been able to distract her. He shrugged his shoulders. "You know, that's exactly the way Elena thought about him too and look how that turned out." Caroline sent him a disapproving glare. "What? I'm only speaking the truth. Safe is boring. If you were human, sure, go with the safe guy for the rest of your life since it's not that long of a time. But you have the rest of eternity. Don't spend it with someone that's the safe choice."

Caroline hugged her arms around herself . He was right of course. The words he were saying were the things that ran in her head in a constant loop. It was just weird to hear her thoughts said out loud. And from his mouth.

Sensing her indecision, Damon nudged her with his foot and her gaze snapped up to meet his. He smiled mockingly at her. "Or, maybe I just REALLY don't want you as a sister-in-law."

Reaching over, she swatted him on the shoulder, making sure to be careful about it. "I don't want to be related to you either buddy." She signed. "Klaus has just done so many bad things."

"Blondie, we've all done really bad things." Damon said, not convinced. "Even Saint Stefan has a list." He shook his head. "Listen, I'm not telling you who to choose. I love my brother, and I DO think you should pick him, but only do it if you are absolutely positive that's what you want. I told him the same thing the day of the funeral. If you're not sure, don't do it. Don't pick him because you feel bad, it will only make the both of you miserable in the end." He shrugged. "Stef is a big boy. He'll write a sad entry in his diary and then he'll realize that he'll be just fine when he knows that you're only trying to be happy."

Caroline mulled over his words. Damon had given her a lot to think about and she was going to have to make a decision. And soon. She was about to thank him when Bonnie popped her head in the door.

She gave them an odd look, seeing their position on the bed. "Enzo called. He's on his way with Sarah. He and Lily were able to convince her to come and give it a shot." She said happily.

Damon sighed in relief, falling backward onto the pillow next to Elena. "I'll be down in a minute." Bonnie nodded and closed the door behind her.

Getting up from her spot, Caroline smoothed down the front of her shirt nervously. "I'm going to head down now. You coming with?"

Damon nodded. "Yeah, I'll be behind you in a second." He said, thoughtfully.

Caroline turned to leave, heading toward the door.

"Hey Caroline." Her hand on the knob, she turned around at Damon's voice. "You're worth more than the way I've treated you, so much more. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

The corners of Caroline's lips lifted and she sent him a brilliant smile. "Thanks Damon."

His head tilted to the side, a smirk playing upon his lips "But let's keep that between us. I have a reputation to protect."

Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed. A genuine laugh. "My lips are sealed. No one would ever believe me anyway."

* * *

**So, a little more filler, but something that I've always wanted to happen. I've always really wanted Caroline to just forgive Damon. It's stupid that she hasn't. Anyway I've actually caught up with TVD (not this week, but the other ones) My husband LIKES it now and watched it with me. It figures he likes it now. What do you guys think of it? I think, as long as they bring up Elena in EVERY episode... I might be okay. Who knows. I will say, that I like the future pairings LOL Weird right? **

**Anyway, next chapter will be up in a few days. This was supposed to have two whole parts but it was getting really long and I figured I would give you guys SOMETHING since I've been absent so long. **

**Keep up with the story and come chat over on the facebook page facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForeverTVD or come join me on twitter at HisGem**

**And don't worry... the story is far from over BUT Damon and Elena will be reunited very soon. **


	24. Chapter 24

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 24**

When the hospital had given Elena scrubs to change into, they'd also given her comfortable, fuzzy little socks, that had grips on the bottom so that she wouldn't slide around on the linoleum floors.

They did little good now as she tried her best to keep up with Mylea. She slipped along the hallway after her, slightly out of breath. Elena stared amazed at the woman's heels. They were so high she wondered how on earth she was staying upright.

God… they were even higher than any of the heel's she'd seen Katherine traipsing around in.

Elena stopped dead in her tracks.

Why was she still thinking about a life that didn't exist?

"Elena? You alright there?" Mylea had turned around to face her, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised in question.

She shook her head to try to clear the cobwebs. "Yeah, I'm sorry. You were just walking so fast and I'm a little dizzy." Elena made a show of glancing down at Mylea's shoes. "And I'm just not understanding how you can walk in those." She said, trying to change the subject. Hopefully the woman wouldn't notice that she'd had a lapse of craziness.

Mylea laughed heartily. "Ah, sometimes I don't either. I have to walk fast and keep up the forward momentum. Otherwise I could topple over."

Elena shook her head, but smiled. "Then why do you wear them?"

Shrugging, Mylea walked back toward her so they could stand side by side. "Isn't it what all human women wear to look good?"

What an odd way to ask that question… Elena thought, gazing over at her curiously. "I guess. I don't know if I would be a good person to judge that. I don't think I'm a woman. I'm actually not sure how old I am at all." She waited for panic to overcome her, realizing that she had no idea when her birthday was, but was surprised when nothing happened. "I should be freaking out right now…"

"Ah, that means that the medicine is working. You're seventeen years old, if that helps." She leaned over and took off her shoes. "Now let's go. I want you to have plenty of time for your surprise."

Still not sure if she was very excited about said "surprise," Elena followed her anyway. They reached the double doors and Mylea used an electronic key pass, sliding it through a small lock pad on the wall next to the them. There was a beep and then one of the the doors swung open.

Mylea held it opened behind her back and smiled at her, gesturing for her to go in by herself. "Go ahead, I have another appointment to get to. Have fun!" Elena passed her with a stiff smile in return, not completely comfortable with the woman's quick attitude change. When they'd been in the office before, it had seemed like Mylea had been mad at her or was accusing her of something she didn't know about. But now she was all smiles and friendliness.

It just didn't make any sense.

Not that anything lately had made much sense, but that wasn't helping matters.

Or maybe this was the paranoia creeping in, that everyone had warned her about.

She watched as the door closed and locked behind the doctor before facing the recreation room.

What could only be described as a blur of fire headed straight toward her and barreled into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her for a minute.

"ELENA!" The tiny ball of red exclaimed in a light voice, burying her head into her chest and wrapping thin arms around her stomach. "Oh my GOD! Elena I'm so glad you're okay. I'm so happy to see you."

Shocked and a little uneasy, Elena didn't know what to do other than to stroke the short girls hair and try to reassure her that she was just fine. Clearly this was someone she was supposed to know, but if she were here to visit she MUST know that she was a little lacking in the memory department.

"Ugh, Connie. I told you not to attack her once she got back." Mary said, coming around the corner from the nurses station. Another girl trailed behind her, an apologetic look on her face when she looked at the girl in Elena's arms. The girl was tall, about a full head taller than Mary and walked gracefully up behind Connie before pulling on an arm to pry her off.

Elena almost laughed at the fact that she'd had to have someone pried off of her twice in the same day.

The little girl, or not little girl… now that Elena saw her face, looked up at her bashfully. "I'm so sorry. I was just really excited that we got to come and see you. EVEN though Mary made us sign up as volunteers to get in here in the first place." She sent a quick glare over her shoulder.

Mary just rolled her eyes and patted the girl on the shoulder. "Elena, this is my annoying little brat of a sister Connie. She's one of your best friends. I know you wanted to call her and ask her questions, but since I couldn't get you a phone, I figured this was the next best thing."

Elena took a deep breath, overcome with emotion that Mary would do this for her, and looked down at the short girl. "Your… your name is Connie?"

Grinning up at her, the girl nodded. "Well, it's Constance, but no one ever calls me that. Unless it's my mother and she's REALLY pissed off."

Connie.

Bonnie.

Oh God… Mylea wasn't kidding was she? She really did just change the names slightly in her head to make up a completely different life for herself. Elena could feel her heart pounding in her chest but the rest of her wasn't reacting the same way. She SHOULD be panicking. Again. But all she was feeling was lightheaded.

Elena looked up to the taller girl. "And your name?"

The girl hung back a little to give her some breathing room, which Elena was grateful for. She seemed to know how to react in this weird situation, as if she were used to being around crazy people. "My name is Meredith. Everyone just calls me Meri."

Oh thank God her name wasn't Caroline or something similar. Elena thought.

"I have a bit of work to catch up on and I have to make my rounds. Why don't you guys sit down over at one of the tables and talk for a bit or play a game. You can't stay long, but you can probably hang out for about an hour or so before Dr. Verbodanin comes and kicks you out." Mary said, shooing them toward the closest table.

Awkwardly, they all took a seat and sat in silence for a minute before Connie started to laugh. "This is stupid. We're acting like we're strangers."

Meredith shot her a quick look. "Connie… to Elena, we ARE strangers."

Connie rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I could see a little recognition in her eyes when she found out our names. You remember us, don't you Elena?" Her gaze shifted over to meet Elena's.

Uncomfortable with being put on the spot, but knowing she had to get the conversation going if she were to get any information out of them, Elena decided to be honest. They were her best friends after all, it couldn't hurt. "Your names ring a bell, but I don't remember anything specific. I'm sorry."

She could see the disappointment in Connie's hazel eyes, but the girl quickly covered it up. "Ah, it's not a big deal, I'm sure you'll remember us in no time!" She bounced cheerfully in her seat, and then shifted so that she could sit indian style on the little plastic chair. "So, you probably have some questions. We are here to answer them to the best of our ability!"

Instead of trying to come up with a question, Elena was instead trying to compare the Bonnie in her head to the Connie in front of her. There was no comparison of course. This Connie had pale white skin with a splatter of freckles across her nose and bright red curly hair. While physically, they didn't look like each other at all, Connie did remind her of an "Old" Bonnie. Before magic and death got in the way. Bonnie used to be so carefree and boy-crazy. She'd changed so much in the past few years, even more than she had. Elena wished she could have kept her away from everything and left her to be like that again, but she couldn't turn back time and-

Oh God… she was doing it again.

WHY was she doing it again? They'd even given her extra pills today. They made her feel horrible but shouldn't they also be blocking all the shit from her brain that was telling her that she was a completely different person? The only thing they'd been successful at doing was making her stop having normal reactions to normal things.

Who DOESN'T panic when they don't know how old they are?

"Elena?" Meri asked, leaning forward in her chair. "Did we lose you?"

Elena blinked, trying to bring reality back into focus. "I'm so sorry. I was trying to think and I couldn't figure out what to ask first." She laughed nervously. "Could you just tell me about myself first? Just a little?"

"Well… I have a question for you!" Connie said, holding one finger up in the air. She looked around the room before leaning forward and whispering. "I heard you were here with Tori. How is THAT going for you?"

Oh, touchy subject.

"Well, we WERE rooming together but she attacked me this morning. They had to drug her and drag her away. I'm not sure where they took her after that. She… doesn't seem all that stable." Elena admitted. "Was she always like that?"

Connie shook her head. "No, she kind of used to just be a troublemaker and I'm pretty sure she was doing drugs. She ran with the wrong crowd for a while and it probably messed her up in the head a bit, okay a lot. The last thing she did at school was go COMPLETELY nuts and she jumped up on the cafeteria tables and started stripping in front of the WHOLE school. That's when her parent's finally put her in here." She said in one long breath.

While Connie continued rambling, Elena noticed for the first time from the corner of her eye that Damien was sitting at another table, slouched low with his arms crossed. An older man was seated across from him, a stern look on his face. She couldn't hear what he was saying, he was speaking too low, but she could tell it wasn't anything good.

She sighed, wishing there was some way she could help him out of his situation. It was obviously his father and it was clear that they didn't get along.

"So yeah, she's a complete psycho. Especially with you. The last few months, she used to follow you around school and show up outside of school where we would be hanging out and just WATCH you. If Mary had told me that you'd been put in the same room with her, I would have told her to get you out of there RIGHT away. That girl is just plain crazy."

Meri nudged Connie in the ribs with her elbow. "That's not a nice thing to say."

Connie sighed. "Meri, you know it's true. When she showed up, things got strange!"

Not really being able to argue with the statement, Meri shut up.

Still eyeing Damien, Elena half turned her attention back to Connie. "I need you to do something for me." The demand came out of her mouth as so abrasive that Elena cringed. "No, I"m sorry. I mean, if you could possibly do me a favor, I'd really appreciate it. I'm sorry, again. They've been giving me some medicine and I'm not quite… myself."

Connie laughed, tilting her chair back and clapping her hands together. "NO! PLEASE do not say you're sorry. That was the most Elena thing I've heard you say since you first walked in."

Elena stared at her, almost disgusted. "So, what you're trying to say is that… I'm normally a bitch?"

Connie's eyes went wide and Meri snickered. "No Elena… what Connie is trying to say is that you're a woman who knows what she wants and she usually gets it." Meri replied.

"So… a bitch." Elena repeated.

Meri smiled. "Some people might it that. We don't though."

"Okay then." Elena said, slightly ashamed of the person she was that she didn't know. Promising to herself that she would make up for it later, she continued. "I need you to take down a phone number and call it for me. You're going to ask for a Damon Salvatore and let him know that I'm here."

"They took our phones before we got in here, but we can write down the phone number and call him once we're out, if that's okay?" Meri suggested.

Connie slammed her hands down on the table. "OH. MY. GOD." She stared Elena down. "Is this Mr. short, dark and handsome? And you've been keeping him from us? And you remember HIM but not anyone else? That's so romantic! But OH MY GOD… what about Scott? I mean… I know you guys kind of broke up after the accident and everything, but you guys were so perfect together and he was totally waiting for you to come back around, even though Carolyn was really trying to dig her disgustingly manicured fingers into him. I mean-"

"Wooooow, Connie. I'm so sorry but you HAVE to slow down. Please." Elena said, feeling the pressure build in her head, right behind her eyes. She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the ache. "I don't understand a word you just said. Please start with the short, dark and handsome thing."

Connie shut her mouth for a minute and looked at her suspiciously. After a moment, she must have decided that Elena wasn't lying. "Over the summer I spent time with my grandmother and she told me that we were descendants from druids so on the first day of school, I read your palm."

"And you saw someone short, dark and handsome?" Elena asked, disturbed about the grandmother and witchy similarity. The clues just kept building up into her being crazy. Why should she even think for a minute that giving them Damon's phone number would do anything?

"Well, that's where it was kind of weird. He was tall… ONCE. He's not considered tall now. I don't know what the heck that means, but that's what I got from your hand." Connie said, lifting a corner of her mouth in a smile, a dimple appearing in the center of her cheek.

Elena took a deep breath. He was tall, once? Damon was probably considered short by today's standards, but back in the 1860's… he could have been considered tall. Usual people were shorter back then.

She shook her head, trying to dispel the thoughts. She couldn't believe she was trying to rationalize this. Trying to figure out how this could all lead to a person, a VAMPIRE that didn't even exist. Because if Connie could see something like that, that meant that Connie was a witch. And if Connie was a witch then vampires COULD exist.

And that was just crazy.

Just like her.

"Did you actually see what he looked like?" Elena asked, holding her breath and waiting, hoping that Connie would describe Damon.

Connie shook her head sadly. "Not really, it was just a feeling. Like I could sense him, but not completely see anything.

Elena sighed. "Okay." She noticed Meri's eyes looked concerned so she forced a half smile. "Really, it's okay. I just, had a dream about someone and thought maybe the description would match and give me some answers." She turned her attention back to Connie. "What was the rest that you were saying? About my ex boyfriend?"

Connie's eyes lit up. "Oh, Scott! Um… he's a football player and REALLY sweet. You two were like… king and queen of the whole school. But you broke up with him a little bit after your parent's accident." Connie slapped her hands over her mouth. "Oh… should I have even said that? Did the doctors even tell you that your parents were dead?"

"CONNIE!" Meri said, slapping her shoulder. "Oh my God."

Elena waved her hand in the air, dismissing it. She dealt with her parent's death already. "It's okay, Aunt Judith and the doctor explained it to me."

Still looking guilty, Connie slid from the table. "I'm going to get a pen and piece of paper so I can get that phone number." She said, walking away and disappearing into the nurse's station. Elena watched her leave, noting the slump to the short girl's shoulders.

"She means well." Meri said, laughing a little. "But sometimes she says things without thinking it through."

Elena turned back to examine the girl sitting across from her. "I know. I mean, I don't remember her, but I can tell that she's a pretty genuine person. It really is okay though. I don't remember who my parents are. I guess, when I do, I'll deal with it then." She hoped that didn't sound too cold hearted.

It probably did.

Meri analyzed her for a minute before nodding her head slightly. She crossed her arms and tipped her chair back a little bit. "And don't worry about Scott. Connie likes to go overboard with the romance. Even when you were dating him, it was very low key. You were basically best friends who called each other girlfriend and boyfriend. Although he DOES follow you around like a puppy dog sometimes. He wanted to come today but we told him we didn't want to overwhelm you."

Elena snorted. "I appreciate it. That would probably be weird. Who is this Carolyn person?" She asked, unhappy that a name so similar to Caroline's had come up. She'd been so relieved earlier when she found out that Meri's name wasn't Caroline.

"Carolyn is a little… hard to describe. Um… auburn hair, green eyes. Kind of a bitch." At Elena's amused look, Meri laughed. "Much more of an actual bitch than you. She's vindictive and mean. We all used to be best friends but she's really changed since we got to high school. She told you at the beginning of the school year that she was going to take away your scepter, whatever the hell that means."

"Connie said that was like queen of the school. It's not that difficult to figure out. She's obvoulsy jealous." Elena shrugged. She had way more to worry about than petty high school drama and who was more popular than who. "Who cares, she can have the scepter, I don't want it. I'll just be happy to get out of the mental hospital before the school year is over." They shared a laugh and then realized how weird it was and promptly stopped. Elena leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, propping her chin upon her hands. "Oh my God, I'm pathetic."

Connie plopped herself back into her seat, slapping a notepad on the table. "Got it! I told Mary that we were going to play hangman and then she gave me a lecture about trying to play a game about a guy who hangs himself." She sighed exaggeratedly, flipping her curls over her shoulder. "Okay, so give me mystery guys information."

Elena rattled the number off to her and glanced over to see how Damien was doing with his dad.

His father was leaned forward in his chair, face red with held back rage. His hand was wrapped tightly around Damiens arm and she could tell it was hurting him, seeing the tears gather in his eyes.

"Hey!" She shouted, getting up from her seat so quickly that her chair fell backward and hit the floor with a loud crash. "Get your hands off of him!"

Even though her brain was a little foggy and her legs were weak from standing so quickly, she'd never moved so fast in her human life. She reached them in a matter of a second, ripping the man's hand off of his son and pushed Damien behind her. "Don't you dare touch him like that."

The man stood from his own chair and stood foot to foot with her and looked down at her with a sneer, trying to intimdate her.

It didn't matter.

She'd faced scarier people.

This pathetic man didn't scare her one bit.

"Don't tell me what I can do to my own son." He said cockily, his lips twisting into a sick smile.

Damien clutched the back of her shirt, and she could feel his tiny hand shaking. Rage built up inside of her so quickly that she was surprised. Wasn't she supposed to not feel anything like this?

Without even realizing it, Elena's hand reached up and slapped and slapped the man right across the face. She watched as the red blossomed underneath his skin quickly, and a drop of blood dripped from the corner of his lip where her fingernail must have split it. He stood completely still though, staring down at her in shock.

Elena tilted her head to the side and stared at him in defiance. She guessed no one had ever stood up to him before.

She turned around and leaned over, gathering a still shaking Damien in her arms. "Are you okay honey?" She asked, rubbing small circles in between his shoulderblades. His head buried in her hair, she could feel him nod and also noticed a bit of moisture landing on her neck. He'd finally let those tears fall.

"NURSES! THIS CRAZY GIRL ATTACKED ME!" Damien's father's voice suddenly boomed out. Elena spun around in shock Damien still cradled in her arms, staring at him as if he were the crazy one. They must have cameras there in the nurses station. And she was sure that Connie and Meri had seen the whole thing happen, they would be able to say what had actually happened. As she thought that, she saw them rushing toward her out of the corner of her eye.

"You're the crazy one!" She shouted. "You threw your son in here to forget all about him and only came here to hurt him!"

The man ignored her, still shouting for the nurses. Mary rushed out, along with the same orderlies she'd seen take Tori out this morning. Dr. Verbodanin followed close behind, a needle in his hand.

"God damnit!" She shouted, picking Damien up and backing toward the corner.

God he was much too heavy for her shaking arms. "Get away from us!" She screamed. "He's the one who attacked Damien first, I was protecting him!"

Dr. Verbodanin stood directly in front of her, holding out one hand as if she were a crazed animal and holding the needle behind his back, as if she hadn't already seen it. "Elena, put Damien down. There can't be any physical contact between males and females here. You were told that already. So put the boy down and we can figure out where to go from there."

His voice was soothing, but she didn't believe him for a minute. She knew the moment she put him down that he was going to come after her. "Please," she begged. "You don't understand. He was hurting Damien. I had to help. Put the needle down and I'll put Damien down and then we'll go talk in the office."

Dr. Verbodanin nodded and threw the needle onto the floor. "That's fine. I want to know what happened too. We'll play the tapes back and see what happened, you can watch with us. Just put Damien down."

Accepting that was the best assurance that she was going to get, Elena began to lower Damien down to the floor, but he only held her tighter around her neck. "Damien, sweetheart, I have to put you down. You know the rules. We don't want to get into trouble, right?" She said, trying to level her voice and sound as if she wasn't just as upset as he was. When he didn't loosen his hold, she looked at Mary for help. "Could you? I want to sort this out."

Mary nodded, clearly rattled, but stepped over anyway.

Elena ruffled Damien's soft black hair. "Damien, please go with Mary. Everything is going to be okay, he's not going to hurt you anymore." She could feel Damien's jerky nod as he pulled away a little and Mary swooped in to take him from Elena.

The second he left her arms the orderlies attacked, each grabbing one of her arms.

Elena struggled against them. "NO! We had a deal!" She screeched, glaring at Dr. Verbodanin. He swooped toward the floor and picked the needle back up, advancing on her quickly. Trying to remember moves Ric taught her, she used the leverage from the orderlies gripping her arms and swung both of her legs up to kick the needle out of the doctor's hand.

She mentally thanked the self defense tactics that her imaginary father figure taught her.

The longer she struggled though, the more dizzy she got. He didn't HAVE to stick her with that needle, they'd already filled her up with so many meds that she'd probably pass out on her own. She could feel her arms and legs turn into jello as she watched him pick the needle up again.

"Get the HELL away from me!" She shouted, weakly trying to kick out again. This time when she did, one of the orderlies used his other hand to grab her leg.

Now she had no leverage.

She could hear Damien sobbing from the other side of the room, and wished that he didn't have to see this happening, so she stopped her struggling and the moment she did, felt the needle slide into the top of her arm.

Tears were streaming down her own face now and she felt her body go slack and the orderlies grip loosening. "I'm sorry." She whispered, to who, she didn't know.

"It's okay, I promise I'll look at the tapes." Dr. Verbodanin must have thought he was talking to him.

She stared up at him, but her vision was slowly starting to tunnel.

"I just want to be Elena again." She said, her brain not working properly.

He stared at her in confusion. "You ARE Elena."

Her tongue felt so big that it shouldn't be able to fit in her mouth all of the sudden. "No… the other Elena. I want to be her again."

With the last of her strength, she turned her head to the direction of Damien's cries and they locked eyes.

Teary blue met teary blue.

"I want Damon."

Still staring into Damien's eyes… the world faded.

* * *

**Even more confused now, aren't we? **

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	25. Chapter 25

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 25**

Caroline huffed as she made her way back up the stairs. It had been well over half an hour since Damon had told her he'd be right behind her, and everyone downstairs was growing impatient waiting for him. No one would ever admit it, but he was really the "planner" of the group, well… when it didn't concern parties at least, so no one wanted to start discussing what to do without his input.

Lily had called a few minutes before and said they were about an hour away, but she figured that would give them enough time to come up with a game plan once they got here with Sarah. Caroline wondered if she should hide in one of the spare rooms while that was happening. The last time they'd met, she didn't really give the girl the best first impression.

She immediately stopped at the beginning of the hallway, seeing Stefan standing on the other side of Damon's closed door, leaning against the wall, eyes closed. "You know they're waiting for him down there, right?" She whispered, sucking it up and walking quietly over to stand in front of him.

His eyes opened and she saw just how tired he looked.

And then she heard it, a slight murmur coming from the room. Damon was speaking very low to someone, but she couldn't make out the words. "Who's in there with him?"

Stefan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "No one is in there. He's talking to Elena."

Caroline's shoulders slumped as tears welled in her eyes. She immediately blocked out the sound of Damon's voice from her mind. Whatever he was saying to her- her body, was probably very private. "He said he's forgiven me," She murmured, twisting her hands together "but… if this doesn't work out, there's no way I can ever forgive myself. It's all my fault."

Shaking his head, Stefan pushed himself away from the wall and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She stiffened at the contact but then let herself relax. It was a friendly hug, one he'd given herself tons of times before. There was no reason this should be weird. "Caroline…" He started, struggling to find the words. "You're a vampire. All of us have done things we regret when we flip that damn switch. We've all been there. And yeah… you kind of screwed Tyler over.. but you're also right. It would have happened eventually. It was his own decision that brought this mess to us. He knew what was happening here that night. He could have killed everyone. That's on him, not on you."

Caroline nodded tearfully, deciding not to argue with him. She knew what he said was the truth, but it wouldn't stop her from feeling this way. That was her BEST friend in there. Semi-deadish. If she couldn't fix it, how would she ever live with herself?

She sighed, tired of all the heart to hearts today, but this was a long time coming. And she knew that he should have been the first one to talk to, but she just couldn't then. But she wasn't one to procrastinate so she may as well get it over with. She pulled away from him slowly and looked at the floor.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline took a deep breath and looked up to meet his eyes. They were still sad.. and so weary, but there was a light smile across his face. "Stefan…"

He laughed, very low. "Caroline, I know that sometimes you have a tendency to forget that everyone around you is a vampire. I heard your conversation with Damon. I already know what you're going to say."

She pushed her lips together. She wasn't sure if that made things easier or more difficult. "Don't blame Damon. He didn't put the idea in my head-"

Stefan chuckled. "The world is ending isn't it? You're defending DAMON?" He held up a hand to wave off the thought. "No… I know he was just looking out for us. It's the same speech he's given me before." He took a step away from her and took his place leaning back against the wall. "And, I get it. He's also right. I'll be upset for a minute, but the most important part is that you are happy. Klaus has changed, you can tell in the way he treats his daughter. Just… be careful. And be HAPPY. That's all I want. I don't want to lose your friendship over this."

Caroline sighed, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Still, she wiped the moisture from her eyes. "You know I love you, right?"

Stefan smiled softly. "Yes, I know. And I love you too. Now go downstairs. I'll try to get him out of there."

She nodded quickly and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you" She whispered into his ear, before rushing away.

Stefan slammed his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. Not believing that he just gave Caroline PERMISSION to go for Klaus. Of all the stupid-

Damon's door swung open and he poked his head out. "Is it safe to come out?"

Taking in his brother's disheveled appearance, and betting he looked just as bad, Stefan fought back a nasty retort. "You heard that?"

"I'm human, not deaf. My room isn't soundproof… so I've been told." Damon said with a smirk, coming fully out of the room and closing the door softly behind him.

Stefan shook his head. Damon was deflecting again. He supposed that was normal. It's what he always did when something was bothering him.

Without waiting for Stefan to reply, Damon turned and walked away down the hallway. "Did they get here with Sarah yet?"

Stefan sped up for a moment to catch up with him. "Mother called to let us know they were about half an hour out. They gave her the rundown of what was going on and she agreed to try her best to help." Damon nodded but said nothing, bounding down the stairs carefully.

The scooby gang was once again gathered about the sitting room. All of their eyes on him. Thankfully the new additions were missing like Klaus, Rebekah and the new original sister. Damon almost scoffed, not missing the fact that the quarterback was missing too. Probably chasing after Becks again.

He sighed as he plopped himself next to Bonnie on the couch, throwing his booted feet up onto the coffee table. He didn't miss Bonnie's raised eyebrows, but he decided not to address it. Hell, it was his house, he could put his feet up on the table if he wanted to. It was just past noon and it had already been a too long day.

Clapping his hands together, he addressed everyone. "So… what now?"

Everyone exchanged a look but it was Jeremy who leaned forward from his spot on the arm of the couch. "Freya and Rebekah went back to their house to bring over more supplies for the spell for Sarah. So I guess she could start right away when she gets here."

Damon nodded, and waited for someone else to give him more information. He looked at each of them. "What? That's it? That's what we're relying on?"

Bonnie reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Damon, that's all we've got right now. We're hoping she managed to travel, we just have to track her down now. Something must have happened for her to not be able to contact us."

Tapping his foot against the table, Damon crossed his arms. "I may have spoken to her."

"What?" Bonnie asked, at everyone's gasp.

"The other day, before you came into the room. I was with her." He said, sighing.

Bonnie shook her head. "Damon, you were just dreaming, I woke you up, remember?"

Damon shrugged his arm away from her hand and hopped off the couch going over to the fireplace. He gently rested his casted hand on the mantle and stared into the fire.

It was obvious that Bonnie had been the one keeping up with it. It was just the way that he would set it up and Stefan was much too lazy to do it properly. But he and Bonnie had spent a LOT of time alone in the boarding house with nothing to do and he'd shown her how to build a perfect fire.

"I saw her last night too. Outside." He admitted.

"Damon, you fell asleep outside-" Bonnie started.

"That's why you asked me to go inside. That's why you were looking into the trees… wasn't it?" Jeremy broke in. Bonnie looked at him questioningly. He waved her off.

Damon turned back toward them. "Yeah, she was hiding in the trees."

"Why wouldn't she come out and talk to me then?" Jeremy asked, playing devil's advocate.

Damon shrugged. "She didn't say. Elena doesn't look like herself. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. And she told me that she's been stuck in a mental hospital. That's why she can't get in touch with us."

"Well that's someplace to start right? That's a good thing!" Caroline said happily.

Damon shook his head. "It's the only thing we have to go on, it's not much. I don't know her name and every time I see her, she's half confused and won't give me much information. The first time I saw her, I couldn't touch her, she was like a ghost. But when I saw her last night she was more solid."

"Is that a traveler power or something? Astral projection?" Jeremy asked, turning toward Stefan.

Stefan shrugged. "Don't ask me, I have no idea what travelers can do. We never did any research."

"I did a little digging. Nothing that I found said anything about astral projection. I hate to admit that even though you asked me to Damon, I put it on the back burner with the wedding." Alaric piped in.

"Perfect." Damon said sarcastically. "So we're back to relying on Sarah."

"Maybe she has such a connection with you that YOU would be able to reach her yourself." Jo suggested.

Damon scoffed. "Sure, I'm just going to snap my fingers and she'll just APPEAR out of nowhere-"

He stopped as Jeremy let out a shout and fell off the arm of the couch. "What the hell is wrong with you little Gilbert?"

"I think I may have freaked him out." Said a voice from behind him.

Damon's breath caught in his throat and he was terrified to turn around in case she wasn't actually behind him.

But judging from the mouths hanging open from everyone in the room, she was really behind him.

Damon spun and his legs almost gave out. There she was. SOLID, even more so than she was last night. He leapt forward, grabbing her in his arms, afraid she would disappear. She was still wearing that stupid nightgown but he didn't care. He buried his face into her hair and took a deep breath. She didn't look like his Elena, but she still smelled the same.

She smelled like home.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you again." She whispered in his ear, pulling away and looking at everyone shocked faces. "I didn't think I'd see any of you ever again."

Caroline ran forward but stopped directly in front of the two. "Are you really Elena?" At the unfamiliar girl's slight nod, she let out a cry and wrapped her arms around her neck, almost decking Damon in the face. He adjusted himself at the last moment. "Oh thank GOD!" She cried.

Elena laughed, patting Caroline's hair. "I'm glad you're back to normal." She said sadly. It was wonderful having arms around her that were familiar… even if they weren't real.

Caroline and Damon pulled away from her, but Damon didn't completely release her from his arms. "I hope they keep me sedated forever." Elena admitted, with a nervous laugh.

Damon pulled her toward the armchair and sat her down, his face serious. "No more riddles Elena. We're all looking for you so no more of the confusing talk. Where are you?"

Elena shrugged. "I told you… I'm in a hospital. That's all I know."

She saw movement from the corner of her eye and turned to see Jeremy stepping close hesitantly. She raised her arms up and gestured for him to come closer. She could see his ears tear up as he got closer. He didn't attack her like the others did. He leaned over and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

"What happens there, when you come here?" Damon asked, trying not to let her get distracted. They needed facts and they needed them now, before she disappeared again.

"Right now, they knocked me out with a sedative because I was trying to help Damien. The other two times I was just asleep. Maybe since I'm more deeply asleep this seems more real." Elena suggested.

Damon and Stefan shared a concerned look before Damon squatted down to eye level with Elena. He placed his hand on her knee. "Elena look at me." He waited to speak until her eyes focused on his. "This is real. WE are all real."

Elena smiled sadly tilting her head to the side. She reached out and brushed her hand against the stubble on his warm cheek. "Damon… it just makes so much more sense. Vampires? Werewolves and doppelgangers? It sounds like a horrible movie with an overload of supernatural characters." She laughed and rolled her eyes. "But I would take it, if it meant that I could be with you. But I'm crazy, and you don't exist." Damon grew concerned, she seemed so sure of herself. Elena looked up and let her gaze travel toward everyone in the room. "None of you exist at all."

Bonnie pushed herself off of the couch. "You're going to tell me that I don't exist?" She said, somewhat angry.

Nodding, Elena stared at her. "Bonnie... you're a WITCH! My doctor told me in one of our sessions, that I would take the people I already know and change their names and create another world with them. My friends Connie and Meri came to visit me in the hospital, right before I was sedated. They told me I had a football player boyfriend named Scott, and we had another sort of friend name Carolyn." She looked back at Damon. "And there's this little boy there, named Damien. He looks JUST like you… he lost his little brother Steven. Don't you see? Nothing here is real."

Jeremy shook his head. "Well, what about me then? Who do you know in that world that's like me? And like Ric, or Jo?"

Elena shook her head, confused. "I'm not sure yet. But I'm sure there's someone out there. I've been stuck in the hospital and I'm having problems with my memory, but everything there makes so much sense. I have a little sister, but not a little brother. Oh… and my roommate is named Tori. Victoria. Vikki." She looked at her brother sympathetically. "Maybe I just always wanted a little brother."

Damon shot to his feet, running his uninjured hand through his hair. He didn't know how to get through to her, that they were all real but at least she was talking. All the names she was telling them would get them a little closer to figuring out where she was. He spun toward her. "So you're telling me I'm a little boy you think is cute? Common Elena, do you really believe that? Do you have FEELINGS for this little boy?"

Bright red bloomed across her cheeks. "Not like THAT!" She insisted.

"Well then why would you imagine me that way then, if I'm just a little boy in the real world." He said, using air quotes.

Elena struggled for an answer. That's what she'd been asking herself the entire time.

"Ah! Well, if it isn't Elena Gilbert! That makes things MUCH easier."

Everyone spun to see Klaus leaning against the wall, a blood bag in his hands.

Damon scowled. "I thought you left." And then realized what Klaus said. "Wait… how did you know that it was Elena?"

Klaus smirked and pushed himself from the wall, stepping into the room. "Because her name IS Elena Gilbert." He took a sip of the blood bag, emptying it in a matter of seconds. "And I'm still here because Hope is sleeping peacefully upstairs. I didn't want to wake her. I've been snacking and gaining my strength back in the basement."

"How is that even possible?" Damon asked.

"Well, my name IS Elena Gilbert. That's what everyone has been calling me and even my hospital bracelet says it." Elena insisted, staring quizzically at Klaus. She glanced down to see if it was on her wrist, but it was bare.

Klaus shrugged. "There are a total of 25 Elena Gilberts living in the United States. When I heard what the doppelgangers name was, I sent people out to track them all down." He took Damon's seat on the couch. "THIS body of Elena Gilbert, I actually visited before I came to Mystic Falls. Conveniently in the next town over in Fells Church. And I left someone to spy on her, just for fun."

Caroline scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. Maybe she'd made a mistake. "Well, why would you do that?"

"She was acting odd." He said, as if that were any explanation. "She was different. I never got an answer as to why, the person who I had following her was put into an institution."

Elena pushed herself out of the chair. "You did that to Tori?"

"I don't recall the girls name." Klaus admitted. "Her… personality.. didn't quite agree with my compulsion."

"Well, you should go fix it! That girl is absolutely insane." Elena demanded pointing a finger at him.

Klaus observed her, his head tilted. He smiled. "So, you believe that we're real now?"

Elena stopped in her tracks, confused. "I… I don't know what to believe." She said, her shoulders slumping.

Damon gripped her arm. "We are. And we're going to come get you. Right now." He gestured to Klaus. "You know what hospital this Tori girl is in?"

"Unfortunately no, I never kept up with her after I got back to Mystic Falls and found the REAL doppelganger." He sent another smirk Elena's way. She glared back. "BUT… I do know where THIS Elena Gilbert lives. We can go there and ask her lovely Aunt Judith what hospital our dear Elena has found herself in."

Elena's heart sped up. If this could possibly be real… Her gaze locked with Damon's. "Let's do this." She said.

* * *

**So! That helps a little... right?**

**That last episode was... interesting. **

**Loving the Caroline/Ric stuff, I just think it's really funny for some reason. **

**Stefan is such a jackass. It's the coffin's all over again. Stealing something/someone and not telling anyone about it and putting EVERYONE in danger. And... I'm sorry... Did he forget that Elena Gilbert exists? He seems to not realize that's why Damon hates their mother...**

**And I'm sorry... but "Damon's Hell?" He's living it already. A life with Elena. Yes... I get that the war was bad and he hated it obviously. But how can they show "his hell" without not having Elena show up? Julian said that his hell was that he was always killing Lily. So, does that mean that Julian loved Lily so much more than Damon loves Elena? I don't think so. **

**Blah. I can't wait until this is over. **

**On a side note... I made PRE reservations at The Gilbert House for the SERIES finale lol, even though we don't know when that is yet. I want to be there and see the end. **

**Come say hello on facebook or twitter! Spoilers for the next chapter will be up soon.**

**facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForever **

**twitter is HisGem **

**Also... a little note. If you go to HowManyOfMe dot com, you'll see how many people in the US have your name. There ARE 15 Elena Gilbert's. There is only ONE of me **


	26. Chapter 26

**Holy Crap, I'm back!**

* * *

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 26**

Thinking quick, before Elena started to believe that he wasn't real again, Damon used his good hand, grabbed Elena's and began to pull her toward the door, not wanting to waste any time. The faster they could get to this other Elena, the faster they could fix this and the FASTER everything would go back to normal….well as normal as things could be with him being a human and her being a vampire.

The EXACT thing he wanted to avoid the year before.

He groaned internally at their predicament. There must be some way to get back to that prison world. Unless there was another option that they hadn't thought of yet. Maybe Klaus knew someone in New Orleans that would be able to help them. Damon knew that he had tons of minions around that town. There had to be a way to either make her a human or turn himself back into a vampire.

Damon snatched his keys from the side table with his pointer finger and turned, happy to see Klaus obediently following them. He wouldn't admit it to the other man, but he was extremely thankful that he wasn't putting up a fight or even making any snarky comments.

He frowned, seeing Caroline coming up behind Klaus.

Noticing the look on Damon's face, Klaus spun abruptly, causing Caroline to nearly crash into him. He put his arms out and locked them on her shoulders to steady her as she wobbled. "Love, I think the car may be a bit crowded. You should really stay here."

Caroline crossed her arms. "No way. Two humans, well…. one human and one … ghost? Ugh, who cares what she is, they both need protection. We need two vampires just in case. And I have to help. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Damon rolled his eyes and was about to comment when Elena tugged on his arm. He glanced over his shoulder at her, noticing her cheeks glow pink. "Could we go upstairs for a minute before we leave? I'd like to try to find something else to wear." She said, pointedly looking down at her nightgown.

Seeing how sheer it was, with the light streaming through the windows, he let out a short laugh. "Most definitely." If was stupid of him to not notice or even consider what she was wearing.

God, was being human turning him into an idiot ALREADY?

Or maybe his brain was catching up to how many years old he really SHOULD be and he was going senile.

"We're going upstairs." He locked eyes with Klaus. "You take care of this situation." He said, pointing at Caroline and then tossing him the keys to the car. If he was being forced into going on a trip with Klaus, there was no way he was sitting up front with him. He wanted to be as close to Elena as possible, so they would sit in the back together while Klaus was drove.

Plus, driving fast probably wouldn't be a good idea without the use of one of his hands.

She sputtered and shook her head, her blonde curls hitting her cheeks. "I'm not a SITUATION!"

"Well you're not coming either. Compel her if you have to." He smirked at Caroline as he passed her while Elena threw a sympathetic look over her shoulder as they disappeared up the stairs.

She sighed, turning her attention back to Klaus. "You're not' really going to compel me, are you? Because that would TOTALLY be unfair since I just decided to give you a chance." Choosing to ignore the audible gasps from behind her in the living room, she instead focused on Klaus's wide eyes and mouth that hung open in shock. Caroline was proud of herself, she was pretty positive the Original had never looked so confused before.

She smiled sweetly and stepped forward, linking her hand under his chin and pushing his mouth closed.

Klaus stared at her skeptically, once the initial shock had worn off. Was she telling the truth or was the woman once again using his feelings to manipulate him? It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Caroline noticed his hesitation and her gaze softened, knowing exactly what he was thinking. She hadn't ever given him a reason to trust her in the past. She stepped even closer to him and grasped his hand. "I'm telling you the truth. I want to give us a chance. IF you plan on staying in town. I don't really like the thought of living in New Orleans."

Glancing down at their intertwined hands, Klaus didn't quite know how to answer her. He'd never planned on staying here in this little town, settling down and "making friends." Half the people in the house (more than half, to be fair) he'd tried to kill and had tried to kill him. On more than one occasion. But they'd seemed polite to him this time around, and yes, it was because they needed something from him, again, but maybe… just maybe things could work out if he stayed.

And on the plus side, it would probably be better to raise his child in a nice town like Mystic Falls instead of New Orleans.

Klaus brought his other hand up to clutch around their already joined hands and stared down at her. "Caroline, your choice makes me incredibly happy, beyond happy. But you're still not coming with us." She started to open her mouth in protest but he shushed her. "You need to stay here. You are the ONLY one that I trust with Hope."

Caroline instantly shut her mouth. How could she even argue with that? She sighed, resigned. "Okay. I'll stay." She could use the time to bond with the little girl. If she were going to be dating her father, then did that make her something of a step-mother? Would she be a GOOD step-mother? Oh God, what if she messed up and totally screwed up the little girl?

"Caroline, don't overthink it. Everything will be fine" Klaus whispered in her ear, knowing where her thoughts were going, having seen the sudden panic in her eyes. "One step at a time, alright love?'

Caroline grinned up at him. "Yes, one step at a time."

Not caring that everyone was watching and was paying close attention, she planted a kiss right on his lips.

* * *

Elena stared uncomfortably at the body lying in Damon's bed.

"She's not desiccated anymore." She said, forcing optimism into her voice.

Damon sighed. "No...YOU'RE not desiccated anymore. Ric, Jo and Caroline got that machine over there." He pointed at the contraption. "That helps with blood transfusions. And Klaus was hooked up to it for a little while. So, there's no more werewolf venom in your blood anymore. You're all healed up." He smirked, moving in front of her but not taking his hand from hers. "You can hop back in there any time you want."

Forcing her gaze away from the body, she met Damon's hopeful eyes sadly. "But if I did, I would be a vampire." Elena watched the light die from his eyes. She shouldn't have brought it up, he'd looked so happy having her close. She shouldn't have reminded him that they had more problems than just her being "missing."

"What's wrong Damon? You don't like me as a blonde?" She teased, twirling a strand of her hair, attempting to lighten the mood like he always did for her.

Rolling his eyes, he wrapped both arms around her and swayed her back and forth. "Oh… I don't know, I'm usually into brunettes." He joked.

Elena raised both eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Then what were you doing with Andi and Rebecca then?"

He laughed and planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Trying my hardest to make you CRAZY jealous." He widened his eyes at her, and Damon watched, pleased, as a blush spread across Elena's pale cheeks. "Did it work?"

"Nope! Not one bit!" Elena insisted, her cheeks turning even more pink as she tried to suppress a smile.

"Elena, I would love you no matter what you looked like right now. Though, I must admit, the new look is kinda hot. You could use a hamburger… or twenty. Once we get your physical body back, we're going straight to the grill and I plan on ordering you everything on the menu. That's edible."

Elena laughed and nodded, glad that she was able to perk him up a bit. "Okay, well in order to do that, I need clothes, so let me go." She said, trying to push him away. He only locked his arms tighter around her. "Damon!"

He let out a dramatic sigh and let go. "Fine." He said, pushing her toward the dresser where all her clothes were stored. "But hurry up, I want to get this road trip with Klaus over with as quickly as possible. Hopefully he managed to convince Caroline to stay here."

"Why don't you want her to come with us?" Elena asked, pulling off her nightgown and throwing it onto the floor.

Damon stared worriedly at her as she leaned over and opened the middle drawer. Her spine and each one of her ribs was clearly visible as they poked through her pale white skin. "Elena, is this person you're in sick?"

She turned around, a dark blue tank top clutched in her hands. "Not of I know of, why? Are you just trying to change the subject?" She asked accusingly, tilting her head to the side. The motion just did more to accentuate the hollow in her collar bones.

He shook his head. "You're just so thin. How did you end up in the hospital?" Finally able to ask the question. She'd been so coherent this time around that it was finally time to ask the more important questions. Hopefully she'd actually be able to answer.

Elena shrugged, pulling the tank over her head before turning around and searching in the drawer again. "From what I know, which isn't much, she's not sick. Not physically." She dug around a little and finally was able to find underwear and a suitable pair of shorts. She pulled them on and was disappointed to find out that they were too loose. She sighed but before she could ask for one, Damon appeared with a belt hanging from his finger. Elena smiled gratefully, but his gaze remained serious. "When I woke up, after I jumped into her body, I didn't feel well. I was worried that maybe, even though I wasn't in my own body anymore, that the werewolf bite was still affecting me."

She looked at the floor, embarrassed. "I realized soon enough that she'd taken a bunch of pills, already prescribed to her. And she was trying to kill herself. I was able to make it out into the hallway and call for help. So I've been in the hospital since then. From what the doctors say, I've been having problems for a while, so I assume it's affected my eating-"

"HER eating. Elena." Damon lifted his hand to her cheek, guiding her face to look at him. "You aren't her. And you have nothing to be ashamed of. You didn't do that. That's not something you would EVER do. No matter how hard things got, you were always strong enough to face it."

She shook her head, still ashamed. "There were times, during the last few years, that I almost wasn't. But it was always you that kept me strong. Even when we weren't together, It was always you." She admitted.

"But you didn't. It wasn't just because of me, it's because of who you are. Now stop worrying, we're going to get you out of there." She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

But Damon knew that she wasn't convinced.

Would she ever be convinced that anything was real after all this? The thought scared him. That maybe the woman he loved would never, EVER, believe that her life was real again. Would this change her for the rest of her life?

"Come, let's get out of here, okay?" Damon suggested, reaching out to grab her hand again.

Elena made a move toward him and stumbled, Damon rushed forward to grab her. "What's wrong?" He asked, worried.

She brought up her hand to her head. "I'm not sure, I'm a little dizzy." She shook her head, trying to clear the sudden haze. "I don't feel so good." She slurred, her body shuddering in his arms.

"Dammit! Elena!" Damon said, shaking her. At this point she was dead weight in his arms and though his broken hand was KILLING him, he didn't care. "Elena, talk to me."

"Ugh, Damon, I think I'm waking up." She said, trying to lift her head to look at him, but she just didn't have the energy.

Damon cursed, doing his best to swing her up in his arms. He rushed over to the other side of the bed and lay her down next to her other body. "Do you think you can try to just jump back into this body?" He asked frantically, trying hard to keep her with him. He glanced down to see her eyes closed. "Elena." He went to tap her cheek and his hand went right through her face. "Elena don't you dare do this to me right now."

The door swung open and Stefan stormed in, Jeremy and Bonnie stepping through right behind him. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

"She's fading. Bonnie, DO something!" He shouted, pushing himself away from the bed and clutching at his hair. "Just make her stay!"

Bonnie rushed to the bed, but before she got there, Elena was already gone. Instead, she placed both hands on Damon's shoulder from behind. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you." She said tearfully.

Damon shrugged her hands off and turned to face them, his eyes hard. "It doesn't matter."

"Damon, it's going to be okay. Klaus knows where to find her Aunt, and she's just a town over. Sarah is on the way, so we have a backup plan. We'll have this all figured out by the end of the day." Stefan assured his brother, trying to keep his voice calm.

Damon shifted his gaze over to Elena's body left on the bed and let the tension leave his shoulders. Stefan was right. At least they had a lead. It was more than they'd had even an hour ago.

Without saying a word to the others, he left the room, and bound down the stairs where Klaus stood waiting, keys in hand.

In silent agreement, they both exited the boarding house, intent on getting Elena back.

* * *

**I'm sooooooooo sorry. Like, beyond words sorry. **

**Now that things have calmed down in the way of moving across the country (omg driving across country through icy mountains was super horrible) getting everything settled into the new house, starting the "new" job and FINALLY getting internet in the house, I'm back! And updates will be much more frequent. **

**I saw the crossover episode last night, it was so good. Gosh I love Klaroline! LOL I'm glad they did it, because this season has been so "EH" they had to save it somehow, right? I'm hoping that this is all over soon. But I'll miss it, no matter what. For you guys who are still watching, what do you think about that season?**

**I found out a few weeks ago that the Gilbert House is going up for sale, and I'm so upset. It means that my reservations for the series finale are shot I guess. And I won't be able to spend time with them again, which was so amazing, they are such good people. But I DO understand why it's being done, so what could I really say? Hopefully the people that buy it next will love TVD as much as we do and share the home just as much as the people now do. I just wish I got to spend more time on that porch...**

**Anyway, come see me over on facebook! Once I get to 50 likes, I'll be doing a contest for some TVD prizes, so come over and like it! facebook dot com TheEndOfForeverTVD**


	27. Chapter 27

**So, I may not be in New York time anymore, but that's still the internal clock that I work on so to me, it's Thursday. Our old TVD day. So, I've decided to post updates on Thursdays, like the good old days. **

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 27**

Connie sighed, sitting in the passenger seat of Meri's car as they drove back to her house. Leaning her head against the window, she closed her eyes, but when she did, she only saw Elena being grabbed and sedated again.

She wished there was a way to get it out of her damn head.

"You okay?" Meri asked, not taking her eyes off the road. She could see Connie fidgeting in her seat a little bit and knew that her friend was having a hard time having seen what had happened to the other part of their trio.. It was hard on her too, she admitted to herself. While she was used to the mental hospital atmosphere. and the craziness that goes on in them, because her grandfather had been in a hospital since she was born, she wasn't used to seeing her childhood friend go through it.

It was no secret that over the last few years, Elena hadn't quite been… herself. Ever since her parents died, she'd been going downhill and there had been a lot of whispers around school that the girl was going crazy. Meri KNEW crazy, and that wasn't how Elena acted. A little paranoid, yes. Checking out mentally for a little while, yes. But Meri never believed she was literally crazy. She KNEW there was something going on with her, something real, but whenever she'd tried to confront Elena, she'd been brushed off and told that everything was fine.

Even though things were clearly NOT fine.

The Elena that they'd met in the hospital today, was a completely different girl. She knew it in her gut. The way she moved was different, the way she spoke was different. Sure, she had supposedly lost her memory, but Meri felt like there may be a little more to the story.

"I don't think that was Elena." Connie whispered, hiding her face from Meri behind her red curls. Embarrassed to say it, but needing to say the words out loud. Even to her own ears they sounded ridiculous.

Without responding, Meri pulled over to the side of the road and parked the car. "I was just thinking the same thing." She admitted.

Connie glanced at her, startled. "I thought you were going to say I was being silly."

"No." Meri said. "Something isn't quite right."

Shifting a little in her seat, Connie dug into her back pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper she was glad she remembered to grab off the table when Mary was pushing them out of the hospital doors. "Do you think this Damon Salvatore person would know anything?"

Meri shrugged. "It's worth a shot, don't you think?" She reached over and took the paper from Connie, staring at it. "The name sounds kind of familiar."

"Are you confusing it with Damian, the little boy from the hospital?" Connie guessed. "Because that's what I thought when she first said it. But I don't know that kids name."

Meri closed her eyes, trying to think. "No, I'm almost sure I've heard Elena say this name before. You know, when she used to get lost in thought for a little while and then would seem confused? I think I've heard her say the name Damon."

"Like she used to call me Bonnie?" Connie asked. Meri nodded. "Yeah, but I think that was an honest mistake. Bonnie sounds a lot like Connie, so it makes sense-"

"Shit!" Meri said, tossing the paper back into Connie's lap. "We left our cell phones at the hospital. We have to go back. Or should we just go back to your house and use the house phone?"

"Go back to the hospital." Connie said. "If we can reach this guy then we can tell him to meet us there and we can try to figure out what's going on." Meri nodded in agreement, put the car back into drive and made a quick u-turn.

* * *

"Ugh, Damon forgot his phone again." Bonnie sighed, spying the top of it poking out from in between the couch cushions. She reached over to grab it, her grimoire falling out of her lap but Jeremy was able to catch it before it hit the floor. She laughed a little. "You're reflexes are getting faster. Is that because you're a hunter?"

Jeremy shrugged. "I think so, but I'm not sure. I haven't really done any research on being a hunter and Connor hasn't been around since the last time I died." He made a face and laughed. What a weird thing to have to say... "It certainly helps though!" Bonnie grinned and nodded at him, tossing Damon's cell phone onto the coffee table and taking the grimoire back from Jeremy.

Jeremy observed her, as she studied the book. She seemed happy, despite everything going on at the moment, and that in turn, made him feel a little better. Seeing Elena earlier had helped too. Watching her disappear hadn't been all that great, but he was confident they would work everything out soon. They always did.

Bored and not really knowing what else to do or how else he could help, he picked up Damon's phone to see if he had any games downloaded onto it. The screen flickered to life and he flipped through the apps with his thumb.

But of course, there was nothing fun on the phone. No games. Damon was technically an old man and Jeremy couldn't picture him sitting down and playing Candy Crush or Angry Birds on his phone. Just the thought alone made Jeremy snort out loud.

Bonnie glanced up from her book in question and Jeremy just shook his head. To his surprise, when he went to put the phone back down, it started to ring. He stared at the unfamiliar number flashing across the screen.

"Are you going to pick that up?" Bonnie asked.

"Do you think I should?" Jeremy said, holding the phone awkwardly.

Bonnie snatched the phone from his hand. "It could be Elena! Maybe she got her hands on a phone." She said, quickly hitting the button. "Hello?"

There seemed to be a gasp on the other line and then silence. "Hello?" Bonnie prompted again.

"Um… Hi. I'm sorry, I think I dialed the wrong number. I'm sorry to bother you." The girl's voice said from the other end. It wasn't the voice of the Elena that they'd met earlier though.

"Wait!" Bonnie said, trying to stop her from hanging up. "Who are you trying to reach? This isn't my phone, it's a friends."

"Oh.. okay. I'm looking for someone named Damon Salvatore. My friend gave me this phone number and asked that I try to contact him." The girl said.

Bonnie exchanged an excited look with Jeremy. "Go get Caroline." She whispered to him. He nodded and pushed himself off the couch, leaving the room quickly. "This is Damon's phone, he accidentally left it at home. He was on his way to go find out about a friend of his, I'm thinking that maybe it's the same friend?"

A small laugh came over the line. "I'm hoping so. My friends name is Elena, she was the one who gave me the number."

Oh thank God… Bonnie thought.

"My name is Bonnie, would you be able to tell us where Elena is? I'm a friend of her's too. We've been looking for her for a few days."

Another gasp came over the line and she could hear the girl talking to someone in the background, but couldn't make out what she was being said. "I'm sorry, you said your name was Bonnie?"

"Yeah, has she mentioned me?"

"Actually.. kind of, yeah…" The voice said, awkwardly. "My name is Connie, and for the past few years Elena would call me Bonnie." Bonnie was about to ask her what that meant but the girl, Connie, continued in a rush. "Anyway, we're at the hospital with her right now. Actually, we're outside the hospital and we saw her just a little bit ago, but we're here if you want to meet up!"

Still a little confused by Connie's revelation, Bonnie nodded her head even though she couldn't see her. "Of course, we'll meet you there. She's in the hospital? Is she okay?" She asked, hoping to give the right response. She didn't want to let the girl know that she already knew Elena was alright and in the hospital. And it would be weird to find out your friend was in the hospital and not react to it. "Where are you?"

She spied Jeremy coming back into the room, Caroline following close behind as she bounced Hope up and down in her arms.

"We're at the hospital in Mystic Falls. She's okay, but you probably want to get down here soon."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. Damon was going to be PISSED when he realized that he and Stefan were in the same hospital as her, just the day before. It was just their luck. But she realized that it also meant that Stefan's spell had actually WORKED the day before, when his blood had landed on Mystic Falls. She wasn't in an institution, she was just in a regular hospital.

"Yes, we'll meet you there right away. I'm going to try to get in touch with Damon, I'll call the phone of the person he's with, and we'll all meet you at the hospital." She could see Caroline nodding her head, realizing that the reason Jeremy came to get her was because they needed to call Klaus.

"Great!" Connie exclaimed, a little too chipper. "My friend and I will be waiting! I have red hair and Meri has long brown hair, we're sitting on the bench out front and you can't miss us. See you soon!" Bonnie was going to ask more questions, but Connie abruptly hung up the phone. She stood and sighed, slipping the phone into her back pocket. There was no way that she was going to be leaving it if it was her only way to get in touch with this girl.

"So, we're meeting them at the hospital?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie shook her head. "No, Jeremy and I will go. You stay here with the baby. Someone needs to stay for when Lily and Enzo show up with Sarah."

An annoyed look passed over Caroline's face. "You're going to need a vampire with you, someone to compel them to let Elena out of there. Jeremy can stay here and wait for them!"

Jeremy held up both of his hands. "There's no way I'm staying here and babysitting. I don't know the first thing about watching babies. And Elena is my sister, I have to go."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "No, I wouldn't leave Hope here with you. We'll take Klaus's car and I'll put her in the car seat."

"I don't think Klaus would want you joy-riding with Hope to the hospital." Stefan said, coming into the room. "I'll go with you guys, if you need someone compelled. Jo wasn't feeling well, so Ric took her home to rest, you're the only person who can stay and wait for them."

Caroline sighed. "Fine." She shifted Hope to her right hip and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She dialed Klaus and heard it go straight to voicemail. "Ugh, his phone is off."

"Super!" Bonnie said, slipping on her flats. "We'll go meet them at the hospital and you keep trying to get in touch with Klaus and Damon. One way or another, we'll get this worked out soon." She picked up her purse from the side table and gestured for Jeremy and Stefan to follow her. "Hell, maybe we'll be back with Elena before they can get back and it will be a nice surprise."

Glad to finally be of some use, Jeremy walked past her to open the door.

Caroline watched as they left, closing the door without a backward glance. She sighed again, walking over to the couch and plopping herself down gently so as not to startle the little girl in her arms. She watched her closely, as the baby tugged happily on her necklace. "So I guess it's just you and me now." She said, surprised that she wasn't more upset about being left out of the action.

She pressed a kiss to the little girl's forehead and was happy when Hope sent her a little toothless smile.

She could get used to this.

* * *

Klaus and Damon drove in awkward silence, Damon staring out the window with his arms crossed. They'd been on the road for a good half an hour already and he was beginning to get agitated. "I thought you said they lived in Fells Church?"

"They do, but YOU live on the other side of Mystic Falls, so it's just taking a bit longer than usual." Klaus said, trying his best to not anger Damon. He was intent on being nice and keeping calm, since Caroline had just dropped the bombshell on him that she wanted to be with him. The last thing he needed to do was get angry and accidentally hurt, or kill, one of her friends.

Damon grunted in response, closing his eyes. He felt like asking Klaus how much longer it was going to be, but refrained, not wanting to sound like a little kid on a long road trip. "So… you followed this girl around like a creeper huh?"

Klaus let out a bark of laughter. "I suppose you could say that. She was unusual, and I could tell there was something more to her, even though she wasn't the doppleganger I was looking for. If my men hadn't found your Elena so quickly afterward, then I would have stuck around to find out more, but alas, I had better things to do."

"Yeah, I love how you consider killing my girlfriend, better things to do." Damon said ironically.

"Tisk tisk Damon, she wasn't your girlfriend at the time." Klaus said, keeping it light. "I don't regret it, if what you're waiting for is an apology." He glanced over toward him from the corner of his eye. "You do realize that if I hadn't broken that curse, that you would be dead several times over, right?"

Damon only rolled his eyes in response. Was he supposed to be thankful that the man had killed Elena and her aunt?

Klaus grinned, turning back to the road. "We're only a few blocks away."

They fell back into silence for the rest of the ride. Damon began to bob his foot up and down in anticipation. They were so close.

They turned on to a street of nice old victorian homes and Klaus slowed the car to an almost complete stop as they noticed the flashing lights of several police cars in front of one of the homes.

"Can you get past them or are they blocking the road?" Damon asked, ready to hop out of the car and walk the rest of the way if it was needed.

Klaus shot him a worried look, one that Damon had ever seen on the Originals Face. "They aren't blocking the road Damon. But they are in front of the Gilbert's home."

Damon's heart sped up in a panic, and though the car was still moving, he unbuckled his belt and hopped out of the car, happy that he'd been able to catch his footing properly and started running toward the house. He could hear Klaus shouting behind him, but he didn't care and he didn't stop.

Klaus cursed, and pulled the car over, quickly rushing after Damon. With all the people around, he couldn't just zip toward the human. "Slow down mate, it could be nothing."

Slightly out of breath, Damon exchanged a look with Klaus. "Could be nothing? When has it ever been nothing?"

Klaus nodded in response. The boy did have a point.

Damon pushed past a few of the police officers outside and bound up onto the steps, knocking on the door with his good hand. He could feel Klaus come up behind him, but the Original didn't say anything.

The door opened and Damon was shocked to see a little girl standing there, that looked just like a miniature version of the blonde Elena. She stared up at him curiously with ice blue eyes. "Hello." She said to him.

Klaus got down on one knee in front of the little girl and smiled at her. "Hello little love. Could you be a good girl and go get your Aunt Judith for us?"

Where the little girl had looked at Damon with curiosity, she turned her face into a cute little sneer when looking at Klaus. Damon smirked, thinking the expression was pretty cute on a four year old. This must be the little sister, Margaret, that Elena had spoken to them about.

"I'm not getting her for you." She said in a strong voice, standing up to him. Klaus frowned, not understanding the little girls attitude.

Damon bent down slightly and Margaret turned her attention back to him. "Margaret, we're looking for Elena. Could we talk to your Aunt really quick?"

Margaret bit her lower lip. "YOU can come in. He's." She pointed at Klaus "Not allowed here." Damon shot Klaus a confused look and Klaus shrugged. It had to be just a coincidence that she didn't want him in the house. She couldn't possibly know what he was.

Unless, Klaus thought, she was just as odd as her older sister.

"Margaret! What did I tell you about opening the door to strangers!' A woman shouted, coming over to the door. Her cheeks were puffy and her eyes were red rimmed, she held a tissue in her hand. "Who are you?" She asked, glancing at both men.

Klaus stood and bowed slightly at the woman. They'd met before in the past, but he'd wiped himself from her memory. "We're actually here to inquire about Elena."

Damon shot him an annoyed look. He was the one who should be asking the questions. He noticed Margaret tugging on her Aunt's long skirt. "Auntie, Damon is here to find Elena." The little girl said.

"Wha-" Damon said. He had NOT told this little girl her name.

"Oh God… I'm-I'm so sorry. Damon, was that your name?" Judith said, tears starting to re-fill the woman's eyes. He just nodded at her, still confused as to what is going on. "A few days ago, she was put in the hospital." The woman dabbed at her eyes. "But we were just told she went cra-had some issues this morning and they sedated her and put her in her room."

A sob tore through her and Damon stepped through the doorway to wrap his arms around her. He patted her on the back comfortingly, hoping that she would finish her story. If those doctors had done anything to Elena, he would kill them all.

Or he'd probably politely ask Klaus to kill them all, since he was human and unless he had a gun or something, he probably wouldn't get very far into the hospital without being stopped.

"What happened?" He asked, his throat tight.

"They went to check on her a few hours ago and she was just GONE. She disappeared without a trace!"

* * *

**I know a lot of you have voiced your concerns over Elena turning back to TVD show Elena. So, I've decided to let you all in on the spoiler that, yes, she will return to the TV Elena. What that does to her relationship with Damon, that... I will not spoil. **

**Come visit me over on Facebook **

**TheEndOfForeverTVD**

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	28. Chapter 28

**It's good old Vampire Thursday!**

**Come visit and say hello at facebook dot com... TheEndOfForeverTVD**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 28**

Another dead end then, Damon thought as Judith ushered him over to the couch in the living room. He glanced over at Klaus, still stuck outside and despite the horrible feeling creeping over him, he could still find the humor in the little girl not inviting him into the house. He was surprised to see that Klaus's expression was filled with concern, and not with anger at Margaret or anyone who was in the house. He saw him scoot away from the door, probably planning on sitting and waiting outside.

Judith sat on the couch, guiding Damon to sit down next to her as she continued to dab at her eyes. He cast his eyes around the room, staring at all the happy pictures of Elena and her little sister on the fireplace mantle, and some that were hanging on the wall. They were clearly taken when Elena was on the healthier side. She looked young and happy.

"I know she's said your name before in passing, but how do you know Elena?" Judith asked, noticing that Damon was looking at the pictures and taking the news about Elena harder than just a friend would. She wondered if he was her boyfriend, though she never mentioned going out with anyone other than Scott.

Damon stared at her, confused. "She's mentioned me before?"

Judith nodded, eyeing him. "Not to me directly, but I've heard her say your name in her sleep. She didn't really talk to me about anything that was going on in her life. As you know, she's been having trouble since her parents death." This boy was obviously much older than her niece, so she started to grow a little concerned about their obvious secret relationship. "How do you know her? You clearly don't go to the same school."

Drawing a blank, Damon didn't know what to say to the woman. He wasn't prepared for this question and he immediately regretted being in the house without Klaus being near to compel her. He eyed the police officers that were on the other side of the room, talking to an older gentleman, that he'd seen in some of the other pictures on the mantle.

If Judith thought that he was dating THIS Elena, that could cause a few problems. He didn't know exactly how old this Elena was, but he knew she was probably younger than the legal age.

"He's my babysitter's older brother." Margaret said, climbing up on the couch, and clumsily getting into Damon's lap. He stared down at her in shock as she smiled up at him. "He's met Elena a few times when he comes to pick up his sister. Right Damon?"

He could only nod in amazement at the little girl, as he wrapped his arms around her back, careful to make sure that she didn't tumble off his lap. Having a kid so close was odd, he couldn't remember the last time he'd held one.

He was pretty sure the last "kid" he'd held was Stefan, and that was over a century ago…

"Oh! You're Jen's brother? The one who's been away at college? I'm sorry, I didn't realize. She never told me her brothers name." Judith said, shaking her head and feeling stupid for being so suspicious. From what she knew, Jen's brother was very accomplished and was working on becoming a doctor. "I didn't know that Elena was close with you."

Damon shrugged, glad to have a story, ignoring how strange the save from Margaret was, for now... "We met here once and then we've gone out for coffee a few times. We were supposed to get together the other day, but she never showed up and she never answered her phone." He said, not elaborating past that.

That suspicious look in Judith's eyes was back. "Elena doesn't have a cell phone."

* * *

Klaus sighed, gripping the steering wheel tightly. He couldn't believe he was stuck outside on this fool's errand. What they should be doing was getting back to the house and seeing if they had any more leads there. For Elena to disappear from a secure floor of a hospital was impossible, especially if she were supposed to be knocked out.

Actually, never mind going back to the boarding house, what they SHOULD be doing is going to the hospital and searching around. He could probably compel the staff to let him see whatever video's that they had for surveillance.

He reached into his jacket pocket to pull out his cell phone, intent on calling Caroline and seeing how Hope was doing, and checking in to see if Lily had shown up with that other girl yet, when he was surprised to find that it was turned off. He pressed the power button and was pleased to see that he'd just accidentally turned it off and the battery hadn't died.

It instantly started to ping, alerting him to several missed calls, voicemail's and texts. He worried the moment he saw they were all from Caroline. Deciding to forgo listening to them and reading them all, it would just be a waste of time, he called her straight away.

The moment he heard the call connect he frantically asked her what was wrong.

Caroline laughed. "It's about time. It's no emergency, didn't you get my messages?"

"No, I just called you back because I was concerned for you and for Hope." He said, leaning his head back against the seat, relieved.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. We are both fine, she fell asleep a few minutes ago." She said. "Damon left his phone here and I was hoping to catch you before you wasted your time at Elena's house, we know what hospital she's at. Elena was able to give Damon's phone number to one of her friends and they called. Bonnie, Jeremy and Stefan went to go meet them there."

Klaus brought up his fingers to rub the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to be the one to disappoint her, but it looks like he was going to have to share the dismal news. "We're already at Elena's house. Damon is inside with the Aunt right now and the little brat sister wouldn't let me in so I'm trapped outside until Damon comes out." He heard Caroline giggle on the other end and hated to ruin her mood. "Love, the police are here. Elena's friends probably have no idea, but she's gone missing from the hospital."

"What? No! That can't be right, they JUST called like twenty minutes ago! They said they just saw her!" Her voice screeched in denial.

"It doesn't matter, there are police crawling all over the Gilbert's house. If she appeared at the boarding house around the same time that she was sedated that was an hour ago, if not more, that would be plenty of time for someone to grab her and take her out of the hospital."

He could hear her breathing heavily over the phone and wished he was there to comfort her. "Darling, I'm going to go get Damon out of that house and head over to the hospital. We WILL figure something out, I promise."

"But - but Klaus, WHY would someone just TAKE her? It's not like anyone could possibly know who she really is! I would understand if she was still the doppelganger but she's just NOT right now. She doesn't look a think like the doppelganger! Wouldn't that make her even more safe than she used to be?" Her voice was frantic and Klaus heard shuffling. He guessed she was probably pacing back and forth.

Klaus shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't see him. "I don't know love. Like I said, there was something about this girl that was strange from the beginning, maybe that has something to do with it. Her little sister is just as odd." He glanced up at the house, seeing something of the police cars leaving. "I'm going to go and get Damon now. I promise to keep the phone on at all times from here on out. Give us a shout when Lily gets back okay?"

"Okay, be careful please and keep me updated." Caroline said from the other end.

Klaus hung up and put the phone back into his pocket, getting out of the car and heading back toward the house. He did so slowly, and by the time he reached the door, there was only one police car left idling in the driveway. The door had been left wide open and he could see Damon on the couch, with the little devil child sitting on his lap.

He leaned as close as he could manage to the opening. "Damon, we have got to get going now. I got a phone call from Caroline." Damon shifted his head and looked at him over the back of the couch in relief.

"Sorry to have to cut this short. My friends babysitter probably wants him back home." Damon said, trying to be as charming as possible to Judith, glad for the interruption. He hadn't known how to respond to Judith's statement about Elena not having a cell phone. Didn't everyone have one at her age?

He shifted slightly, turning his attention to the little girl on his lap. "I'll see you soon okay?" He said, patting her on the head.

Margaret leaned forward and wrapped her little arms around Damon's neck in a quick hug. "You'll find her." She whispered in his ear. Damon pulled back, startled, and looked at the little girl. Her eyes seemed to bore into his as she smiled sweetly and hopped off his lap. "Aunt Judith, could you make me some chocolate milk?" She asked, clapping her hands together.

After all of this was over and Elena was safely back at home, they would have to figure out what it was about this little girl that was different.

Though Judith wanted to question the boy more, something just wasn't right about the relationship with Elena, she could just feel it… she couldn't deny the little girl. "It was nice to meet you Damon."

He nodded at her and bowed his head slightly, pressing his hand to his chest. "I wish it was under better circumstances." He sent a quick wave over to the other police officers, before turning and leaving.

"Thanks for the save." He muttered as they made their way back to the car.

Klaus snorted. "Aunt Judith clearly thought something was amiss. Caroline DID in fact call me. Elena's friends were able to call her so a few of them went down to the hospital to meet them. Though Elena is no longer there, we may be able to take a look at the tapes."

"You know what hospital she's at? Judith never mentioned it." Damon said, opening the car door and taking a seat.

Klaus nodded, doing the same. "She was at Mystic Falls hospital." Damon cursed, slamming his fist against the door which caused him to groan in pain. Klaus raised an eyebrow. "I take it THAT is where you went to get that cast on, am I right?"

"Yes. FUCK!" Damon said, not sure if he was cursing because his hand was throbbing or because he was so FUCKING close to her. He used his other hand to press down on his cast, as if holding it tight would help any of the pain.

Klaus threw the car into drive and quickly sped toward the hospital. "Exactly why hasn't anyone offered you any blood?" Klaus asked.

"It won't work on me." Damon said, tired. He just wanted everything to be over with. Now they were back to square one.

He just wanted Elena.

Klaus's looked over at him, his interest piqued. "And why is that?'

Damon rolled his eyes, but humored him. After all, the Original was going above and beyond to help, most likely to impress Caroline.. though the reason didn't bother Damon one bit. Whatever it took to get Elena back. He could play nice.

"Bonnie brought back the same cure that we gave Katherine, from the 1994 prison world. They forced it on me when Tyler bit me." He shrugged, acting as if it didn't bother him, even though it still did. "So vampire blood isn't going to cure anything anymore."

Klaus didn't say anything, just simply nodded and kept his eyes on the road. He wanted to ask many more questions but they could wait for later. He was fairly certain that Freya could some up with something that WASN'T vampire blood that could help the broken hand at least. But he would offer that later when they were back at the house.

For now, they sped off to the hospital in search of clues.

* * *

Elena woke suddenly, with a dry mouth and a headache that killed. She half expected to find herself in a white padded room, but was shocked to find herself beneath a smelly blanket. Somehow, she didn't think that this blanket was hospital property.

She heard the slamming of a car door and the sound of an engine start and realized that the rough surface beneath her cheek was the fabric to the backseat of a car. She went to slowly adjust herself, to get a better look of where she was and maybe be able to peek around the blankly but she realized quickly, startled, that her hands were bound together in front of her.

What. The. Heck?

The drugs they'd given her that morning must have worn off for earlier because she could feel the panic flood through her and her heart started to race. Did someone actually kidnap her from the hospital? What possible reason would they have?

Though… maybe Damon had been able to find her and they were in the process of sneaking her out of the hospital right now and THAT's why the blanket was over her.

Elena had almost convinced herself that was the case when the thought occurred to her that Damon, and no one she knew, would tie her hands together.

She was very much in trouble.

As usual.

Slowly crunching her fingers together, she was able to get a decent grip on the blanket and start to slowly work it down inch by inch.

Once she was able to poke her head above the top of the sheet she tilted her head back to see if she could get a decent look out the window.

It was just a stroke of luck that at that exact moment, she could see the top of the clocktower pass them by. She breathed deeply in relief. At least she knew where she was, if she could just get her arms up, she could get the door open and throw herself out of the car. It was a busy square, so if she was lucky enough to not get hit by a car, someone would definitely see her-

"Oh, you're awake." An unfriendly voice said from the driver seat. "That injection should have kept you out for much longer."

Elena startled, recognizing the voice. Knowing that there was no point in hiding the fact that she was, indeed, awake, she pulled the rest of the blanket down and struggled to sit up in the seat. "I'd stay down if you knew what was good for you."

Hesitating, Elena stopped halfway up. "Why are you doing this?'

The woman sighed. "Are you REALLY sticking with your amnesia story Elena?"

"Yes! I don't know what the hell is going on! Let me out of the car!" Elena exclaimed, far enough up in the seat to see them pass the church that they had Liz's funeral at they were going south out of town, on Monticello. She wondered if she would somehow be able to put herself back to sleep so she could tell Damon exactly where they were.

The woman pulled to the side of the road and stopped abruptly, right in front of a house. She undid her seat belt and spun quickly, Elena noticed that some of hairs had come out of her perfect bun. Elena moved the blanket completely off of her and sat up as much as she could manage.

"Mylea…" Elena begged. "Please… let me go."

* * *

**I'm still really disappointed that none of you got the joke Elena's male doctor...**


	29. Chapter 29

**Better late than never right?**

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 29**

Connie sighed, flicking her thumb over the brightly colored candy pieces on her phone. Then promptly cursed when she realized that she'd run out of turns and she was only one move away from her win. She could hear Meri snort next to her and she looked over at her with a pout. "It's not funny. I'm a failure. That was my last life for the next twenty minutes." She pulled her feet up so she could adjust herself and sit indian style on the bench, trying to curl up as much as possible. The sun was starting to go down and it was getting a little chilly.

Meri sent a quick smile over in Connie's direction, but didn't keep her eyes off the hospital parking lot entrance for more than a moment. "If we're lucky we won't have to wait that long."

Dropping her phone into her lap, Connie crossed her arms and shrugged. "Do you think I should call again? I didn't even think to find out where they were coming from. If they're far, we could actually go and get some food!"

Just as she made the suggestion she could feel her stomach rumble and was about to insist on getting something to eat (Maybe they could at LEAST go into the hospital cafeteria) she noticed Meri perk up. Connie followed her gaze to the guest parking lot and noticed a black SUV pulling in. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her curly red hair behind and ear and planted her feet back on the ground.

Time to meet the mysterious Bonnie, that she'd been sort of hearing about for so long.

They had parked behind a larger SUV, so she couldn't see them getting out, but her first glimpse of the man that stepped around the side made her heart flutter. Her eyebrows raised and she muttered a soft "Oh…"

Meri used her elbow to nudge her shoulder. "Um, you could possibly be ogling Elena's new boy toy you know?"

Connie realized that there was another man and a woman following behind him, but she couldn't seem to shift her attention away from him. Tall, slim and pale, he seemed to just OOZE mystery, especially because she couldn't see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses.

"Connie… you're drooling."

Connie swatted Meri's arm. "Oh please, Elena never minded us looking before. If anything, she enjoyed it. That meant she picked a winner. And besides… It doesn't matter anyway, that's not Damon."

Meri looked over at Connie critically. "What makes you say that."

Not knowing exactly how to explain the feelings she had, she shrugged. "When I touched Elena and I SAW" she used air quotes "Damon… it didn't give me the same feeling as it does when I look at this guy."

Meri raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything as she too watched the trio approach. Connie was right of course, the guy leading the three was very attractive, but she also thought the boy behind him was pretty cute too, Elena always did know how to find the good ones. Though she had a feeling that his hand on the pretty girls back was a clue that he was taken.

Stefan stepped up onto the curb to meet them, trying not to smirk. Being a vampire did have SOME perks. It had been a while since he'd met people that he didn't know and he always forgot what type of reaction they had to him. Hell, he remembered the first day he'd stepped into Mystic Falls High School and had heard Bonnie and Caroline talking about how hot he was.

Back in the good old days, when everyone had a crush on him and now it seemed like he was the only one who didn't have a significant other.

He lifted the sunglasses off his face and folded them, tucking them into the front pocket of his leather jacket. "I assume you ladies are the ones we're here to meet?' He asked, knowing full well who they were.

At the sound of his voice, Connie's cheeks heated up bright pink and he watched, amused, as she seemed to sputter for a second. "Um, yeah, I called about Elena."

Meri rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "My name is Meredith."

Bonnie stepped forward, a gentle smile on her face in greeting, and shook Meredith's hand. "I'm Bonnie." She gestured behind her. "That's Jeremy."

"And I'm Stefan. Damon's brother." Stefan added, laying on the charm a little thick. He didn't miss the raised eyebrow Bonnie shot in his direction.

Connie nodded up at him. "That makes sense." She muttered to herself. "Well, I'm glad that you're here. I doubt that we'll be able to get you in to actually SEE Elena, she had a little, um… mishap, right before we left. But I could probably get you upstairs to talk to my sister Mary. She's a nurse and has been with Elena for the last few days." She gestured for them to follow her as she spun around, glad to be looking away from Stefan.

It felt like under his gaze, she couldn't breathe.

Or think straight.

And she REALLY didn't want to look like an idiot and make a complete fool out of herself, as she sometime was prone to do.

"So… how do you all know Elena?" Meri asked, hoping to break the awkward silence as they all made their way up the front steps and into the hospital. Something didn't sit right with her, with this group. And even though Stefan WAS good looking, something about him was making her feel on edge.

Yes, Elena had sometimes mentioned the name Bonnie, but it's not like she ever spoke directly to them about her FRIEND named Bonnie. And she'd had so many problems over the last few years, that she just couldn't imagine the girl going out and having another set of friends. Elena, before the accident, had been a complete social butterfly and knew everyone. She could understand if they'd all met before then, but after three years, wouldn't she have mentioned going out with them at least once?

Bonnie glanced over at Stefan, a slightly panicked look on her face. Thankfully the pair was in front of them and couldn't see it though.

Stefan cleared his throat. "Well, we met her through Damon. Not sure how they met." He said, keeping it short and simple. Would it be completely wrong of him to just compel them to not ask any questions?

Meri stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Stefan, standing up straight and analyzing him, as if she could see straight through his lie. "And how long has Damon known Elena?"

Deciding to just suck it up and compel the girl to stop her from talking, Stefan took a quick step toward her but was stopped by a loud ping from Bonnie's cell phone.

Glad for the distraction, Bonnie reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, flicking the screen on to see an incoming text from an unfamiliar number.

_Elena not in hospital. Missing. On our way there now._

She frowned down at the text, realizing that it must be Damon texting from Klaus's phone, and deeply disturbed by the fact that she now had Klaus's number stored in her phone.

"Elena's missing?" Jeremy panicked, glancing over Bonnie's shoulder and seeing the text.

"That's impossible." Connie said, shaking her head, her curls bouncing around her face. "We just saw her like… two hours ago. She's upstairs."

Bonnie glanced up and their eyes met. "Damon was on his way to Elena's house when you called, so it's possible he knows something we don't. But he said that he's coming here so… I guess we just have to wait."

Connie shook her head again, refusing to believe it. "We would have heard something, we were here the whole time!"

Placing a hand on Connie's shoulder, Meri hoped that she could calm her friend down. "No, we left for a while. Anything is possible." She glanced up at Bonnie. "You wait here for your friends and meet us upstairs when they get here. We'll go up and see if we can find out some information."

They all nodded in silent agreement and Bonnie watched as they rushed over to an elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she spun to face Stefan. "This doesn't make sense."

Stefan ran his hand through his already messed up hair. "Nothing makes sense anymore. Did Damon say anything else?" Bonnie shook her head no. "Do you think it's possible when she showed up at the boarding house, her whole body showed up and that's how she disappeared?"

"If that's the case then shouldn't she have wound up back in the hospital when she vanished?" Jeremy asked, shoving his hands into his pocket and trying his best to remain calm.

Stefan let out a little laugh. "Who's to say what should have happened? We don't know anything about traveling or what kind of thing could happen when a doppelganger vampire travels. We have NO information, no CLUE on how to figure this shit out. We have NOTHING." He seethed, his frustration growing.

Bonnie rushed forward and grabbed him by the arms. "Stefan you have GOT to calm down. Your eyes…" She said, trailing off, and watched relieved when the dark veins disappeared from beneath his eyes and the red faded. "All we can do right now is wait."

* * *

What used to be just small golden flecks in Mylea's blue eyes had now completely taken over as they almost glowed as night began to fall. She stared Elena down and though she was scared, her intention was to not show it at all.

Elena didn't know what Mylea was, or why she was doing this, but she'd faced down things just as terrifying as her in the past and dammit, she wasn't going to let herself be taken without a fight.

"Elena." Mylea started, her gaze intense. "I HAD to get you out of there. It was for your own protection."

Snorting, Elena desperately wished she could cross her arms. The ridiculous words that had come out of Mylea's mouth had made her a bit more brave. "Oh? You tied me up and kidnapped me for my PROTECTION?"

Mylea sighed, rolling her eyes heavenward as if asking for patience. "Elena. If you TRULY do not remember then you must know that you are in terrible danger. I had to get you out of the hospital because there are people that are after you. I recognized two of them in the lobby yesterday and I was struggling to figure out a way to get you out of there as quickly as possible. Dr. Verbodanin sedating you and locking you in the room was the perfect opportunity."

Elena narrowed her eyes. "So what you're saying is that Elena WASN'T crazy and paranoid? And you didn't feel the need to let her know anything about it." She asked angrily.

Gripping her hands tightly on the back of the driver seat, Mylea leaned closer to Elena, analyzing her. "Why are you talking of yourself in third person?"

Elena shook her head. "You're going to explain what's going on and then I'll decide what to tell you."

"You're not exactly in a position to negotiate." Mylea retorted, her expression turning cold.

Throwing back her head, Elena laughed. "I really don't have anything to lose at this point, do I?"

Mylea glanced up and down the street, making sure no one was in the vicinity. There wasn't, to Elena's dismay. The road they were on was usually empty except for Saturday nights and Sunday mornings during church hours. Unless she was lucky enough to see someone visiting at the graveyard, she wasn't going to get any help from a passer-by.

She watched as Mylea's perfectly manicured nails dug even further into the fabric of the seat.

The woman was obviously stressed.

Or just as crazy as she was.

"Elena, you are something called a Guardian. I do not have nearly enough time to explain to you exactly what that means, but you have the power to take down some very VERY bad creatures. That is what you were born to do. Once I can get you to safety I promise you that I'll explain everything."

Elena could tell that Mylea was trying to be calm to make her feel more at ease, but it just wasn't working. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not some kind of chosen guardian that is going to save the world."

Mylea smiled gently and reached over to put her hand on Elena's shoulder. "Oh, but yes, you are. Your mother was a Guardian as well. It was always planned for you to join us. YOU are the one that will save this world."

Elena shrugged her hand off, it was the best she could do with her hands tied in front of her. "No, you aren't understanding. Even if Elena IS some kind of supernatural all powerful being, I'm NOT Elena."

Sighing, Mylea shook her head. "I understand that you are having problems with your memory, but you must believe me. Yesterday I saw two vampires that were clearly looking for you-"

"The dark haired man, that you were trying to ask me about this morning? You saw Damon?" Elena asked.

Mylea nodded, thinking she'd gotten through to the girl. "I don't know what that man has made you believe Elena, but he is only trying to use you. I have information that he and his brother Stefan Salvatore have worked with one of the Original vampires and the Original are just one of the many evil's that you were born to put an end to. They can compel you to do things… FEEL things, that you don't really want to do or feel. They are DANGEROUS-"

"NO!" Elena insisted, shaking her head. "They aren't dangerous and they would never hurt me. Damon was only at the hospital yesterday with his brother because he broke his HAND. Something that VAMPIRE'S can't do. He's human. His brother is not but he's not a bad person-"

It was Mylea's turn to cut her off. "Stefan Salvatore has killed VILLAGES of people."

"I don't care. I'm not the Elena you're looking for. She is DEAD. She killed herself the other day. Yes… my name is Elena, but I'm a traveler and I accidentally jumped into HER body after she tried to overdose. I'm the doppelganger." Elena insisted, it sounded ridiculous, even to her own ears. But if there was a small chance that Mylea would let her go, then she would try anything.

They stared at each other in silence, Mylea looking her up and down before finally speaking.

"That would explain a lot." She said, tilting her head. A small smile spread across her face "It doesn't matter who you are, or what soul is inside the body you are using right now. The power is in that body. No matter what Elena you are, you will do this for us, for the WORLD." Her eyes became half crazed. "Your parents were in agreement you know. You were supposed to come to us when you were of age. That was the deal."

Elena could feel a drip of sweat slowly making it's way down the back of her neck. "You killed her parent's didn't you?" She asked, disbelievingly. "They reneged on that agreement. They weren't going to let you take her."

Mylea closed her eyes and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "We are Guardian's. We do not kill our own. We were there the day of the accident, but we did not kill them. I can promise you that." She shook her head. "That doesn't matter though, does it? If you're not her, why would you care what happened to her parents?"

"DOESN'T matter? The girl lost her parents? Why WOULDN'T I care?" Elena fumed, struggling to get her hands free from the tape that was wrapped around them. She didn't care if Mylea saw, she needed to get out.

Mylea reached over the seat and grabbed a fist of her hair. "It does NOT matter. What DOES matter, is that you are in her body and you WILL do what you were always meant to do." She hissed, her eyes glowing even more brightly than before, almost blinding Elena.

Thinking quickly, realizing that her only hope was to get back to Damon and warn him, Elena did the only thing that she could and spit right into Mylea's face.

Her wish was granted as Mylea's other fist came up and smashed into the side of head, turning her world black almost instantly.

* * *

**Sad to report that they are selling The Gilbert House, so I guess my reservations for the series finale don't really matter anymore. Unless, of course, the new owners decide that they are going to rent the rooms out. Whoever they are, I really hope that they're friendly toward any fans that show up. **

**When I heard I had this horrible moment of regret. Yeah, I've been on the porch with my husband, I've sat on those stairs with my husband, we kissed. But I always thought I would be going back and standing there again. Sitting on the porch, watching the sun rise... I took it for granted that I would just be able to go back and do it again. **

**I guess I kinda feel like Elena LOL**

**And...The joke. I'll just put the name Dr. Verbodanin right here and you guys can guess until next chapter lol**

**Come visit me on my the facebook! **

**Facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForeverTVD**


	30. Chapter 30

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 30**

Damon sighed, dropping Klaus's cell phone onto his lap. "Bonnie said to meet them in the front of the hospital. Elena's other friends already went back up to meet with the doctors about her disappearance. Apparently one of them is related to a nurse so we might be able to get information that way." He pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. A headache was starting to form behind his eyes and he was starting to feel so, so tired of all of this.

Maybe his age, his REAL age, was starting to catch up to him.

Shrugging, Klaus switched gears and pressed harder on the gas. "Or we can just compel everyone."

"I don't exactly have that luxury anymore." Damon said under his breath, knowing Klaus could still hear him.

Klaus snorted. "True, but Stefan is there correct? We should be able to get something done at the very least."

Damon rolled his eyes, staring at the houses they passed. What simple lives these people must lead, he thought. And HOPED that someday soon both he and Elena would be living a somewhat simple live on their own. He knew they'd have to run. Knew that they would have to leave everyone that they considered family and be as far away from Mystic Falls a possible. With the cure running through his veins, there was no telling how many vampires would possibly come after him. And after they figured out how to get the other cure (if that were even possible) they would both be in danger.

He just hoped Elena wouldn't mind living only with him for the rest of their lives. Well, not really alone, per say. He was pretty sure that she did want to have kids with him so there would be a few of them running around to keep them busy.

PTA meetings, little league...girl scouts. He was sure that they would meet plenty of people along the way that they would eventually think of as friends.

And plenty of people that they would have to pretend to like.

That would take some adjusting to.

He knew she was worried about him getting bored with her, with being human… but he himself knew that it wasn't possible. There was only one thing he'd ever wanted, and it was to be with her. The rest of the world be damned.

"Good luck with that." He said, snapping back to reality and finally replying to Klaus. "Stefan is still half on the bunny diet so he could probably compel one or two people. He doesn't have that much Power."

Klaus glanced over to him with a smirk. "Well it's a good thing that I'm an original then and am NOT skimping on my diet."

The corner of Damon's lips lifted in a half smile. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But before he could come up with a witty response, they were already pulling into the hospital parking lot, and he was able to spot the trio waiting impatiently by the front entrance. He noticed Stefan tapping his ring against the side of the metal bench as they waited and realized how much his brother was on edge.

He know that deep down, Stefan still had feelings for Elena. He wasn't stupid. But his brother was half saint and would never admit to him that he still did. Even to himself.

So he hoped that whatever happened, he didn't have to watch out for his brother. He would be way too busy trying to keep himself together.

Or, not trying to keep himself together.

He hadn't been lying when he told Stefan that he didn't intend to live if Elena didn't. He just couldn't picture a life without her in it. But he wouldn't do anything drastic. Yet. Not until they all knew for sure that there was no chance getting her back. He didn't plan on making the same mistake she did and jump the gun on making a permanent change to a temporary problem.

Though he could now admit that he understood why she erased him. He WAS dead at the time and there was no possible way she could have known that both he and Bonnie were alive in a 1994 prison world trying to get back.

He was also happy that he'd been smart enough to grab some more vervain before leaving the house in case Stefan tried to erase his memories again. He wouldn't erase her if she was gone.

He would do anything in his power to be with her again. Even if that included erasing himself.

Klaus parked and Damon nearly jumped out of the car as best he could, there was no point in wasting any time, and rushed up to meet them, Klaus trailing behind.

"What do we know?" He asked, walking past them and into the hospital.

"We don't really know anything, we were waiting for you. Elena's friends, Connie and Meri, both went up to see if they could talk to Connie's sister, she was the nurse that I was telling you about." Bonnie replied, doing her best to keep up with Damon. Though he wasn't a vampire anymore, he still was determined, and fast.

Damon reached the elevators, quickly pressing the button several times as he scanned over the floor guide on the wall to tell him which button to press once they were inside. He hoped once they got upstairs they'd be able to find something because otherwise, they'd be shit out of luck and ONLY relying on Sarah.

He should probably call Enzo, _Or should he be calling him Father now? Nah… that was much too strange_, to get an update on where they stood with her, but he was too impatient to get upstairs and see if anything could be done there.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, allowing them to all gather in the small space as Damon pressed the button for the thirteenth floor.

As the door closed they all fell into silence, none of them knowing what to say to each other. It was awkward, standing there, with a previous sworn enemy in their midst. Though, to be honest, they'd all been considered enemies to each other at some point in the past few years.

"How's your hand?" Bonnie asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Damon almost didn't respond, having completely forgotten of the pain. But at her reminder, he could feel it start to throb again. "Fine." He answered stiffly, trying to wiggle his fingers.

Bonnie nodded, folding her hands in front of her, not knowing what else to say.

Thankfully no one else on any other floor needed the elevator and they were on a swift ride up to their destination. The elevator dinged again and they all exited into a short hallway, with a closed, probably secured door. A booth was to the right of it, a nurse sitting at a desk and reading a book.

With long strides, Damon rushed to it and placed his hands on the counter. "We're here to talk to a doctor about Elena Gilbert." He demanded in a firm, no nonsense tone.

The nurse glanced up at him, unimpressed. "I'm sorry, only family members are allowed to speak with the doctor." She said, folding the page of her book. Damon cringed. "Are you a family member? Or associated with the police officers that were in here before? I'll need to see a badge or verification if you are." She asked.

At a loss for words, Damon couldn't find a logical answer to give her.

This being human thing was bullshit.

Stefan approached his left side and lowered his gaze at the woman. "You're going to let us in to speak with the lead doctor on Elena's case."

The nurse stared at Stefan for a moment, mesmerized. "Come right in."

A buzzer sounded along with a loud click, indicating the door was okay to open. Jeremy grinned in appreciation at Stefan while he reached forward and pulled at the door, swinging it open. He held the door open for all of them as they walked through and nudged Damon with his elbow when he was the last one to pass. "Hard being a human huh?" He whispered.

Damon glared at him but it quickly turned into a smirk. "I would have eventually won her over with my charm and good looks." He said, flaring his eyes.

Jeremy snorted and shook his head in amusement, glad that even after everything that had happened in the last few days, Damon still hadn't lost his sick sense of humor. Sure, they would all groan and roll their eyes at Damon's antics, when things were stressful and he would crack an inappropriate joke. But deep down, at least to him, it just showed another level of the way that Damon cared for them all, trying to get their mind off of all the garbage going on around them.

He struggled to think about what could happen if they never found Elena. Or if they did eventually find her and then lost her again. After losing so many people in his life, it seemed like Elena had always been a constant. He could always depend on her to be there for him, even when he treated her like garbage. And even though most of the time he would jump down her throat for treating him like a child, he did appreciate it.

She'd grown up so much when their parents died and he'd resented her for it at the time. Trying to act like his mother when their mother was dead. And yeah… maybe he'd been pissed at her for a little while and a few times actually blamed her for their deaths… But he was a stupid kid back then and now he could appreciate how much she'd always been there for him.

And he knew that if he lost Elena, he would also lose Damon.

And it would be like losing his parents all over again.

He didn't want to think of them like his parents, but between Elena and Damon always taking care of him and bickering about how he should be brought up (Which he was pretty sure they never realized he could HEAR them talking about, but he did and always thought it was funny) and the way they were, together… reminded him so much of his parents that it hurt sometimes.

As if sensing the direction his thoughts were going and his rising stress, Bonnie stepped up next to Jeremy and slipped her tiny hand into his. He seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts and look down at her with a small smile, then squeezed her hand in thanks.

With her by his side, finally, he might be able to get through this.

A door to them opened and the nurse who let them in stepped out. Still with a dazed look in her eye, she motioned for them to follow her. "I'll take you to speak with Ms. Gilbert's doctor." She said, her voice monotone.

The group followed her through what looked like a recreational area, the only sound were her white flat sneakers slapping against the linoleum. No one was in the room at all, but Damon thought for a moment he was able to see a dark head hiding behind a desk in what appeared to be another nursing station.

She guided them to a door down the hallway, marked with the word "Security" and she knocked firmly on it twice before it was opened by a tall disheveled looking man. "What is it?" He demanded, clearly distracted by whatever was already going on in the room.

"Doctor, there are more people here about Ms. Gilbert." She said, motioning to the group behind her.

As if noticing them for the first time, the doctor gazed over all of them one by one. "Unless I see some identification, you'll be lead out of here straight away. I don't have time to make explanations to a young girl's group of friends. You shouldn't have even been let in here in the first place." He said angrily, shooting a glance back toward the nurse.

Her expression showed no hint of her caring.

Klaus stepped forward. "Oh, but I do think you would like us to join you. You see, we need some information." He said, pushing the doctor back into the room. "You'll show us everything that is on the security footage."

Though the doctor didn't repeat what Klaus said, he did nod and lead them further into the room which looked more like a break area and toward another door, beside a vending machine.

Damon was surprised, when the doctor opened the door to the second room, to see even more people waiting inside. Three women turned to face them at the same time. All staring in curiosity.

A short girl with bright red hair let out a long breath. "Damon." She said, meeting his eyes.

Damon looked at her quizzically then nodded. "How did you know?" He asked. He knew that she met Stefan and Jeremy earlier, but Klaus could have easily been the Damon Elena had asked him to contact. Unless she'd described him to the girl.

She shook her head back and forth, her curls flying in front of her face. "I feel like I've seen you through Elena before. You're the right person." She said finally nodding and pushing her hands together in front of her.

The woman sitting in front of the computers rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry for my sister, she should probably be admitted here. " She said, standing. She held out her hand and shook Damon's good hand. "My name is Mary, I was Elena's attending nurse." She glanced over at the doctor. "You're alright with us showing the footage to them?" She asked.

Thinking quickly, Klaus spun the doctor toward him to meet his eyes. "Yes, you're alright with us seeing EVERYTHING, aren't you doctor?" He was about to let the doctor turn around and give his answer when he thought the better of it. "And you should also let us see exactly what transpired this morning as well." He added. If they were going to get any type of clues from these tapes, they needed everything they could get their hands on.

Doctor Verbodanin spun toward Mary as if in a trance. "Yes, show them everything, since this morning." He mimicked.

Damon noticed the taller girl leaning against the wall, give Klaus a suspicious look and was immediately uncomfortable. She looked at him as if she knew him from somewhere and he wondered if Klaus had tried to comple that girl to spy after Elena also.

Mary shrugged, a sad look in her eye as she glanced at them all. "I'll go over the footage from this morning if you want. I don't think it's relevant to her disappearing, but if you really want to see it I must warn you, it's a little upsetting."

The doctor seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and nodded. "When I rewatched, I felt horrible and I feel like I should have just listened to her in the first place, maybe then this all could have been avoided." He said, gazing at the screens across the desk. "I promised we would look at them together but I felt that she may have been a danger."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the doctor. "What did you do?"

Doctor Verbodanin met his eyes apologetically. "The father of one of our patients accused her of being violent toward him, so I did what I felt was right at the time, especially since she wasn't letting go of the child. I promised her we would watch the tapes together but I had her sedated before then and put her in solitary before watching the tape. After doing so, I went to her room to go see her, and that's when we found that she was missing. It was only about ten minutes later, I don't know how something could have happened so quickly." He shook his head and ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "I knew there was a possibility that she was telling the truth, but I couldn't take the risk that she was a danger to herself or to any of the other patients." He lowered his gaze to the floor. "You have to understand, this is a place for sick and disturbed people. And sometimes, as a doctor, you do things you don't want to do, but must."

Damon could hear everyone shuffle behind him, the tension in the room thick. He was trying, SO HARD, to see things from this man's point of view and quell the thoughts of ripping his head off from the rest of his body. He knew he wouldn't physically be able to do that now, but he REALLY wanted to try.

He tried to calm himself with logical thoughts. It's not like this doctor knew Elena, and how she was. It's not like he KNEW the other Elena either. The only response he could give was to nod his head slightly.

"I have it up." Mary said from her seat, breaking the tension filled silence. "Did you want to sit?" She was glancing at his casted hand and trying to be nice, but Damon wanted to shoot her a sarcastic comment about his legs not being broken.

Damon grunted and took a seat next to her, noticing that everyone else crowded close as well. Stefan took the seat on the other side of Mary, without her asking him to, and he could see Klaus out of the corner of his eye, leaning in close over his shoulder.

The scene looked normal. The blond Elena, sitting at the table with the other two girls that were currently standing in the corner of the room, doing everything they could to avoid looking at the screen. The tall dark haired one was looking at the ceiling, and it appeared she may be counting the dots in the pattern above. The little redhead was pushing back the cuticles of her nails with her thumb nail. Damon supposed that they didn't want to see what happened again, as they were there to watch it actually unfold.

"Sorry, the system doesn't record any sound." Mary muttered, as the room fell into complete silence.

They watched the girls talk for a few minutes, but Damon noticed how uncomfortable Elena was by the way she sat and how she kept brushing her hair behind her ears. She may have fallen into another body but her mannerisms were the same in this one as they were in her real one. She must have felt insane, he thought to himself, watching her closely. If this was before he spoke to her this morning, then she did think she was going crazy. Sitting down with two girls that she supposedly had known her entire life and not knowing them must have thrown her for a loop.

He also noticed that her gaze kept drifting across the room, to where a little boy sat with an older man. That's where his gaze stayed as well.

While Elena wasn't looking, Damon noticed other things. How it seemed like the man was berating the little boy and the boy just sat there and took it. He kicked his feet back and forth under his chair, since his legs didn't quite reach the floor, but the man reached out to still his legs. He could see the man's fingers dig into the little boys leg and the boy's eyes widen slightly in pain.

There was a loud crack and his chair moved slightly. Not knowing what it was, Damon glanced behind him to see Klaus's hand gripping the now broken wood on the top of his chair. He looked up to see Klaus, rage filling his eyes. He was about to address it when he heard Bonnie gasp behind him.

Knowing it was something she was seeing on the screen, he turned back to it and saw what caused such a reaction. Elena had apparently seen the abuse and had jumped up from her spot, to try to protect the boy. And she'd slapped the man, HARD. Drawing blood.

Damon almost wanted to cheer except he was too upset to see everything that happened next. It seemed like everyone had gone crazy, orderlies were rushing in and they were trying to get the boy away from her, and then they stuck her with a god damned needle.

Mary hit the pause button after she was taken out of the sight of the camera. "So… that's what happened this morning." She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. Clearly the images had upset the woman. "After we saw the tape we called child protective services and they are going to open an investigation for Damien."

"Damien." Damon said softly. So this was the little boy that Elena was talking about earlier. And he could understand what she was saying now. He looked more closely at the boy, huddled on the paused screen in Mary's arms. He did bare a striking resemblance to him as a young boy. He wondered if that had been the flash of black hair he'd seen earlier in the recreation room.

He also wondered if he could do a little research, when all of this was over, to see if he was somehow distantly related to the boy.

"Well, I've been known to take in a needy boy in the past, I would be delighted to adopt him. It would be nice to have an older brother for my daughter." Klaus said, a slightly devilish look in his eye.

Damon cringed, along with the rest of the people in the room who knew Klaus. "I don't think that's necessary. Once we find Elena I'll talk to her about taking guardianship of Damien."

"Um…" Mary coughed. "I'm pretty sure that's not how things work with CPS. And, I mean… Elena's a bit young to be thinking about children, don't you think?" She asked, shooting a weird look at Damon.

Mentally, Damon wanted to slap himself. He was going to have to ask Klaus and Stefan to wipe these people's minds completely. He kept forgetting this Elena was still a young girl. Not even legal. Even his Elena was still on the young side. They'd talked about children over the last few weeks but he wasn't so sure how she would feel about taking in someone that was older.

Though, knowing the bleeding heart she was, she'd snap up the opportunity. If he wasn't careful, they'd end up with a mansion filled with orphans and needy children.

"Actually, Damon is my legal guardian, and technically his brother's too. He's really responsible for someone his age." Jeremy piped up, trying to fix the awkward situation. Though Damon could hear the laughter in his voice as Jeremy mentioned his age. "So it isn't TOO far out of the realm of possibility."

"Ah, I see. That's really wonderful of you." Mary said, the suspicion in her eyes draining away to a look of respect.

Damon smiled awkwardly at her, not knowing what else to say. Jeremy's save was going to probably cost him in the future. The kid wouldn't let him forget it, judging from the pleased look he was getting at the moment. Probably ANOTHER new car…

He swiveled his chair to face only Klaus, gritting his teeth. "Can I talk to you outside?"

Klaus nodded with a pleased grin spreading across his face, obviously happy that he'd been able to rile Damon up. "My pleasure." He glanced at the girls in the room, one by one. "I'll see you soon ladies." He said, wiggling his fingers to them in a wave as he left the room.

Damon didn't miss the death glare that Meri was sending Klaus's way as he exited the room after him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Damon asked in a low whisper as soon as the door clicked behind him.

Klaus leaned up against a vending machine and crossed his arms. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"You offering to take Damien is what I'm talking about. You really think that will gain points with Caroline? You've already got her wrapped around your little finger with your little girl. There's no need to ruin a little boy's life in the process." Damon seethed.

He could see Klaus's jaw clenching and watched as his most recent partner in crime took a deep breath, clearly trying to keep his cool and not turn into a psycho murderer in the middle of the hospital's crazy ward.

Damon thought back to Bonnie telling him he needed to watch what he said from now on and ALMOST regretted what he said to Klaus.

Almost.

Being suddenly human wasn't going to change his attitude though, at least not so quickly. He was going to have to work hard at not running his mouth and speaking his mind when he wanted to.

"For your information, not that it's any of your business, I wasn't lying about taking someone in, in the past. I may not have the best relationship with him now, but I did save him from a not so wonderful situation and I was a decent father figure." He held his gaze as he stepped into Damon's personal space. "I'm not doing it for Caroline, I would be doing it because I know what it's like to have a shit of a father."

Oddly enough, Klaus's hard expression softened. "Damon, I know much of Lily's past with Stefan's father, through both her and through Elijah. She never mentioned names to me so I never did end up putting two and two together but I know what went on that house, we were there when she started getting her memories back after her transition. It was quite traumatic for her. So I know you share the same point of view as I do. If child services does not do anything about Damien's father, you can bet that I'll be making a very personal visit to his home and he will be involved in a VERY unfortunate accident."

Their gaze was locked for a few moments, neither of them saying anything until Damon finally smiled. "Good. If I could, I would do the same." He shrugged, not wanting to have a heart to heart about shitty dads. Especially not with Klaus. As far as he was concerned, none of that ever happened. He was glad to know now, that the man wasn't his father at all. Though knowing that now, he supposed he and Klaus had even more in common. "At least the boy will get a good home either way."

* * *

**WELL HELLO THERE! **

**So sorry for the long wait on this. **

**I know this is kind of a filler chapter, but for some reason, when I tried to upload the full file, it was giving me errors. So I split it in half and I am HOPING that it works this time around :) I know its' kind of an odd spot to split it too, but there wasn't a better spot that I could find. **

**Anywho... I've been so busy recently that I haven't caught up on the stupid season finale, but I do know what happened. Did anyone watch it? How did you feel about it? I think it's cool that Nina Dobrev came in to do the voice acting for it. **

**I'll be updating again with the second half of this chapter in the next few days. **

**ALSO, I'll be going to NY in a little over a week (It's mom's 60th Birthday and she's decided she's going to go sky diving and wants my little brother and me to be waiting for her on the ground... she's a psycho.) and since I'll have a LOT of plane and alone time I plan on actually finishing this all up. That's the PLAN. Then I'll be posting the updates more frequently. **

**Also, my "plan" is to brush this story up (A LOT, there will be some changes because after a year of writing it, I realize some things could be put in that make the story better) and put it on Amazon Worlds, so I hope when that happens, you all spread the word and tell your friends to buy a copy! It's an exciting thought that something I've done since I was 11 (write TVD fanfiction) could actually make me a few dollars. The plan is to also do a mini-sequel to this story. Not sure how long it will be. **

**As for THIS story... we are going to have another "season finale" coming up in a few chapters. Where things are going to get a LOT more interesting... (place devious smile here)**

**As always, come over and visit me on facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForeverTVD**

**Love you all and see you soon!**


	31. Chapter 31

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 31**

Matt awoke to the unfamiliar feeling of a fingernail trailing lazily down the center of his back. He grinned at the wall he was facing and stretched as a giggle came from behind him.

"He finally wakes!" Rebekah said, using all of her fingernails to scratch at him before pulling away.

Matt missed her touch instantly.

He laughed and rolled over, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling her neck.

Her giggles continued as he kissed her all over and he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her in his arms.

He paced one last kiss on the tip of her nose before pulling away slightly, without letting go of her. "You might not be a vampire anymore but you still managed to tire me out."

Rebekah's eyes glittered with happiness, but he could tell there was some concern behind them. He hadn't seen her in a long time, and hadn't really known her that long before then, but the summer they spent together, he had been able to figure out all of her expressions. And even though she was in a different body (There'd been a lot of that going on recently…) her expressions remained the same. "I'm still a witch, still supernatural. Are you alright with that? Or is this one of those one time things?"

He sighed. She of course, had every right to ask him that. Their deal before had been only for the summer and he could admit to himself that from someone else's (or even her own) point of view, it did seem like he was using her. For the experience, for the money for the… sex. He should have been more clear with her at the time, how he actually felt about her. With his newfound acceptance of vampires, that she didn't yet know about, he was pretty sure that if she had showed up just as her regular Original self, that he'd have asked her to stay anyway.

'It's for as long as you want it to be for." He admitted, giving her a reassuring smile. "I don't care what you are as long as you're with me."

"Oh Matty." Rebekah wiped a fake tear from her eye. "That was incredibly sappy!"

"Get used to it." He laughed again. God… when was the last time he laughed so much? He wound one of her dark curls around her finger. As usual, everything in Mystic Falls was going to shit and he didn't deserve to be so happy at a time when everything was going wrong-

"Oh crap!" He said, glancing out the window. "It's dark out!"

He jumped out of the bed, stumbling a little as his legs got caught in the sheet. 'I know, you slept all day." Rebekah said, sitting up straight and grabbing for Matt's shirt that was lying next to her pillow. She pulled it over her head.

"Yeah, but Elena-"

Rebekah held up her hand to stop him. "I already spoke with Nik earlier. He and Damon are following a lead right now. There's nothing we can do on our end.' She slipped out of the bed and snatched her jeans off of the floor, pulling them on. "I would have woken you up if there was any news.' She assured him.

He sent her a grateful smile as he pulled on his jeans over his boxers, and felt for his phone that he'd left in his back pocket. He hadn't through to pull it out before… taking them off.

Flicking his thumb over the screen he punched in his security code and groaned. Rebekah approached, a concerned look on her face. He grinned wryly at her. "Klaus may not need us, but Caroline texted 41 times." He held up the phone to show her.

"What could that girl possibly want?" She asked. Yes, she'd softened on the girl but it's not like she would consider her a close friend and she wasn't sure she liked Caroline texting … could she consider him her boyfriend now? That felt like such a childish word for the feelings that she felt for him.

He laughed. "She wasn't trying to reach me. She was trying to reach you through me. I guess Hope needs a change of clothes and more formula. She's apparently getting fussy and Caroline doesn't know what to do."

Rebekah slapped her hand to her forehead. "Of course, I'm an idiot. I didn't pack nearly enough for her this morning." She shook her head. "I can't believe I completely forgot all about her!" She glanced up with sad eyes, pouting. "I'm a horrible Aunt."

Matt shook his head, wrapping one arm around her shoulders in comfort while he used his thumb to send a quick text in reply telling Caroline that they were on their way. "No, you're a great Aunt, who deserves a break every once in a while. Common… lets pack up some things for her and get on over there. If there isn't anything that we can do for Elena, at least we can be on babysitting duty for a little while."

* * *

Their conversation clearly over, Klaus motioned to the door to go back into the room but Damon shook his head. "Why don't we split up to get things done faster." He suggested. At Klaus's confused glance, Damon chuckled. "Well I know the girls wanted you to help that psycho who's brain you scrambled."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Tori? I can tell you from experience, that girl is a lost cause. That was years ago. Her brain would be fried at this point. The amount of damage-"

"I really don't think they care. Just give it a shot. You're a hybrid now, you might be able to do something." Damon suggested with a shrug. He knew that if he didn't bring it up and at least try to get something done about Tori, then Elena would be upset about it later. Thankfully, she wouldn't blame him but he still would feel a little responsible if he didn't try. She didn't forget about those things. And he wasn't about to take another trip with Klaus back to the hospital at a later date.

'But-"

"Stop arguing. What would Caroline do?" Klaus glared at him as he chuckled. "We should all chip in and get some wristbands made. They'd all read: WWCD? That should keep us all on the straight and narrow."

"Fine." Klaus huffed, his shoulders sinking. "Send the doctor out. I'll see what can be done." Damon was right of course. If he mentioned to Caroline that they were in the hospital and he tried to do nothing she would probably make him turn straight around without another word and make him try to undo the "wrong" he'd done to the girl. Then he'd be in the doghouse RIGHT after she'd finally decided to give him a chance to prove that he was the right man for her. He didn't bother explaining to Damon that the girl was already a little crazy BEFORE he'd done anything to her brain, and that she'd probably have ended up here anyway.

But he just hated the fact that Damon was right and that he was being ordered around like an obedient dog.

Since when did he let other people, ESPECIALLY Damon Salvatore, tell him what to do?

A HUMAN Damon Salvatore!

He was going to have to come up with some sort of plan to gain a little more leverage with this group. One that wouldn't get Caroline TOO angry…

Damon threw him a smile before going back into the room. It wasn't that he wanted to get rid of Klaus, no actually, it wasn't that he wanted ONLY to get rid of Klaus. Though he knew he was somewhat safe with the Original in the room, the man made his now human senses nervous. Not that it was any better with Stefan in the room, but he trusted his brother a LOT more than he trusted a man who he'd tried to kill and had tried to kill him on multiple occasions.

Trying to be as polite as possible, even though he still wanted to rip the doctor's head off, Damon sent him a friendly glance. "My friend," He nearly choked on the word. "Would like to have a word with you outside." Dr. Verbodanin nodded his head and, without a word, left the room.

Meri pushed herself away from the wall, unfolding her previously folded arms. "What does your friend want with the doctor?" She asked, her eyes narrowing toward the door.

Still unsure of what this girl could possibly have against Klaus, Damon tried to come up with a decent answer. "He has a particularly disturbed sister that he wanted to admit in here." He said, his mouth lifting into a pleased smile.

Jeremy snorted from the other corner of the room.

Stefan swiveled in his chair to face Damon. He had a slightly stern look on his face but Damon could see the amusement lighting his eyes. "Damon, that's not a nice thing to say about Rebekah."

"You're the one making the assumption that I was talking about Rebekah and not his other sister, what does that say about you?" He wiggled his eyebrows jokingly at his brother. Damon took his seat back next to Mary, watching Meri out of the corner of his eye. He was very nervous about her, though he could tell that she was human, he didn't know why she would question everything about their group. She kept focusing her attention on both Stefan and himself, watching them banter back and forth, clearly not knowing what to think of them. He saw the little redhead behind her, still leaning against the back wall, and looking at Stefan with her wide eyes.

She didn't seem suspicious about ANY of them, and by the way that she was staring…

Ugh, he almost groaned out loud. Another entry into the Stefan fan club.

That was alright though, thankfully the only one that mattered had switched over to the winning team. Stefan probably could use a new girl in his life, since Caroline had clearly made her decision on who she wanted to give a chance… for the time being.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand. Let's watch what happened when Elena disappeared." Damon said, trying to move everyone's attention back to what was important. Hopefully Meri would drop the matter of Klaus leaving with the doctor and care more about her friend. It seemed to work as he saw her shoulders become less tense and she focused her attention back on the screen.

Mary fiddled with some of the buttons on the control panel and a second screen, that had previously been off, came to life. She clicked through a few files and finally a picture appeared.

At first the screen on the left only showed an empty room, with only a bed pushed to the far right. But the door quickly slammed open and one of the orderlies, the one that Elena had kicked in the previous video, walked over to the bed and unceremoniously dumped Elena's limp body onto it.

As if she were nothing.

Bonnie reached out and squeezed Damon's shoulder, trying to get him to calm down. She had seen him tense immediately and, she didn't think he realized what he was doing, but she could hear the low hum of a growl coming from the back of his throat. Beside her, she saw Jeremy's jaw clench and she tightened her grip on him with her other hand as well.

She could hear Stefan start tapping his ring against his chair, a nervous twitch that Damon had told her about one day when they were stuck together in the prison world. She'd been tapping her thumb ring on the kitchen table and he'd nearly killed her for annoying him so much. That had been in the beginning, when they weren't so crazy about each other. She watched Stefan now, doing the same thing, but she could do nothing for him as he sat on the other side of Mary.

Bonnie sort of wished that they had kept Klaus in the room, at least he would have been able to handle Stefan if things had gotten a little out of hand.

The video was black and white but thankfully clear and they watched the empty hallway displayed outside of Elena's door. Mary fast forwarded the tape. "Nothing really happens for a while but then Elena's psychiatrist is seen outside of the room for only a moment when it skips" She motioned toward both screens. "It happens on both videos at the same time. That's also when Elena disappears." She pressed play and they all watched as the leggy blonde stopped for just a second, looked both ways and then was gone. At the same time, on the other screen, Elena disappeared from the bed she was laying on.

Damon used his good hand to point at the top of the screen. "The time stamp just jumped three minutes forward, that's not just a skip."

Mary's forehead creased in concern. "Hmm… even the police didn't catch that. Everything is digital, nothing like that should be happening. And they're completely different camera's so I just don't see how they could both jump at the same time. They aren't connected." She rewound again and paused when Mylea was directly outside of the room. "Even if she did do something, how could she? She doesn't have access to our software and she doesn't have keys to those rooms."

Stefan leaned forward, studying the screen, and the woman a little more closely. "Damon, is that the woman we bumped into yesterday when we were here for your hand?"

He looked closer and noticed that Stefan was right. The woman who had looked at them, so terrified that she'd practically run screaming from them was shown plainly on the screen. He focused his gaze on Mary. "This is the woman that was treating Elena? She's a doctor here?"

Nodding, Mary turned in her seat toward him. "She was assigned to her when her regular outside therapist never returned our calls. I spoke with Elena's Aunt Judith about her. Apparently, Nancy had something in their contract that said that if Elena ever tried to hurt herself, she would no longer be qualified to be her therapist. Though I don't know why that would mean she wouldn't give us a call back at the very least or talk to Elena. Mylea was new here and had the lightest case load, so she was the first one available to take on Elena as a patient."

Damon sent a glance over her head toward Stefan and he nodded, confirming that they had the same thought. Clearly something, or someone, had prevented Nancy from calling back and Mylea had CONVENIENTLY taken her place.

But WHY?

Why would this strange woman go through all of this trouble to get to a young girl who was half crazy? Was this another one of Klaus's henchmen that he forgot to un-compel when he found the real doppelganger named Elena Gilbert or was this an entirely different situation?

Damon almost hoped that it was someone Klaus had compelled. If it was, then they should technically be bringing Elena right back to them. But he had strong doubts that things would ever be that simple.

Was she a vampire, or something else? He hadn't noticed any spelled jewelry on her the other day, but he'd been distracted and not thinking about anything like that when he'd seen her. Hell, he'd even forgotten about the whole incident in the grand scheme of things. Even looking her over on the small screen didn't show her wearing any type of jewelry though and he scratched his head. Perhaps she was wearing something under her clothing that was out of sight? If she was a vampire, it would have made it easy to get her hands on some keys and to get Elena out of the room undetected. All she would have had to do was compel a doctor and then compel security to delete that span of time on the tapes.

He sighed. "Is there any way you could bring us over to room she was in? Let us take a look around and see if there's anything there that we're missing on the tapes?" It was better than doing nothing. As of this moment they were at another dead end.

Mary looked a little hesitant. "I supposed. The police took a look through the entire room already and they didn't find anything. They didn't even see anything wrong with the lock on the door."

Damon snorted and rolled his eyes. "They didn't notice the time jump either so excuse me if I have very little faith in the police department."

She seemed to consider for a moment and realize that he was right. "Okay, let's all go take a look." She switched off the monitors and stood, looking over everyone. "We're all going to go?'

Connie hopped up next to her sister and nodded. "The more eyes the better! And I know that I feel better doing something and not just sitting around and waiting for some news." She said, her curls bouncing around her face.

Meri silently nodded next to her, but didn't say a word. Damon had hoped to find some excuse to break away from the pair so that he could talk to Stefan about her. They needed to get her alone to compel her otherwise she was going to notice something more out of the ordinary was going on with them.

They all followed Mary out of the room and down a long silent hallway. Damon had hoped that they would catch another glimpse of Damien, but he was nowhere to be seen. The place seemed completely empty.

"How many people are actually on this floor?" He asked curiously.

Mary shrugged. "I think we're up to ten?" She guessed. "But everyone is in the cafeteria right now for dinner." She said, unhooking the keys that were attached to a loop in her dress pants. "This is the room that Elena was in."

She reached out and unlocked the door, then let them all file in before her. "There's really not much to see in here. I think if there were something then the police would have found it already. Something out of place would be hard to miss."

She was right of course, Damon though, glancing around the room. Beside the bed there was literally nothing else in the room. Everything was painted white, even the concrete walls.

And there was no window.

Damon clenched his good fist, wanting STRONGLY to punch something, but thankfully had the good sense to hold himself back from doing so. The last thing he needed was ANOTHER broken hand. Then he would be completely useless. He could hear the sighs of disappointment around the room.

There was nothing left for them in this hospital.

No clues, no leads.

Except…

He spun to face Mary. "Do you have any kind of files or personal information for Elena's psychiatrist? Maybe we can at least track her down and question her." It was their only option at this point, thought he guessed that whoever Mylea was, she wasn't stupid enough to leave a paper trail.

But you never know.

Mary looked at him as if he was crazy. "Even if I DID have access to that information, I couldn't give that to you. I don't even know you." She shook her head. "Listen, I know that you want to do everything you can to find Elena and I really think that is amazing. I'm sorry we-" She gestured to herself and Connie. "Never had the opportunity to meet each other before all of this, I can see you really care about her deeply. But what you have to do now, is go home, relax and let the police do their job." She gave him a sympathetic smile. "It's been a really emotional day and I'm sure you need to rest since you're injured."

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small business card. "One of the officers gave me his card and told me to call him if I remembered anything. I'll call him right now and let him know that you noticed the time lapse in the video. Maybe that will give them a hint."

Damon nearly growled at her but Bonnie's hand on the back of his shirt stopped him. "I don't think you understand the severity of the situation." He said, his voice low and menacing.

"Damon-" Stefan warned.

Snapping his attention to his brother, his icy eyes met Stefan's. "Do something about this and get the damn information." He demanded.

He didn't give a damn if Stefan only had the ability to compel one of them. He would lock them in the room until he could get Klaus and have HIM wipe their memory clean, after he got any kind of file that had to do with this woman.

Meri's eyes danced between the two brothers, trying to figure out what was going on. She had this tip of the tongue feeling that was tingling at the back of her senses. Things were going to get dangerous soon if she didn't step in. She understood that Damon was desperate to find his girlfriend but that was no reason to start ordering people around.

She watched as Stefan took a step forward and whispered something to Mary. Then she looked on in shock as Mary nodded and left the room with Stefan.

"That's IT!" She shouted, walking forward and using her index finger to poke Damon in the chest.

His nostrils flared as he stood toe to toe with him. How DARE she come this close to him?

"I don't know exactly what you people are, but I know you're not human. So you can all go to hell. You can't be messing with our friends minds that way and if I find out that you've done the same things to Elena I will MURDER you." She threatened, not scared in the least at the expression that Damon was sending her.

"Listen little girl, you are way out of your league. You have no IDEA what's going on here, you can't even FATHOM the things that I will do to hurt you in order to get Elena back. So keep out of my way." He spat.

Bonnie tugged on Damon's shirt even more. "Damon stop this isn't helping anything…" She glanced over her shoulder trying to get Jeremy's attention but he was too busy glaring at Meri as well. She was sure he saw her as an obstacle to getting his sister back and she didn't blame him, but they couldn't risk causing a scene and having security come to take them out before they got the information they needed. "Jeremy, help!" She hissed.

Jeremy didn't spare her a glance as he stepped up next to Damon facing off against Meri. He crossed his arms. He would stop Damon if he needed to, but there was no way in hell he was going to let this girl get in the way of what they were trying to accomplish.

The entire room was thick with tension, and finally, Meri stepped even closer.

"Get-"

Connie's gasp brought them all to a halt, and everyone's eyes turned to her, who had been standing silently the entire time trying not to interfere.

She was staring past them all, toward the door behind them.

"OH MY GOD! ELENA!" Connie screeched.

They all spun, their earlier fight completely forgotten.

Elena stood by the door, back in her nightgown. She glanced around the room, bewildered. Realizing the two groups of friends there, and that she was back in the hospital, she glanced over at Damon panicked, and cursed.

* * *

**Yikes, no reviews last chapter. **

**Was it that bad? -Sad faces-**


	32. Chapter 32

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 32**

"Oh my GOD!" Connie said again, the color draining from her already pale face. She flew past all of them before they could stop her and crashed into Elena's side for the second time that day.

Elena shook her head, God… so much had happened already, was that really only that same morning?

"Have you been here the whole entire time? Everyone's been looking for you like crazy! They got the POLICE involved and your family is so worried! How did you get out of this room? Are you alright? What-"

Elena tried her best to shake her off but couldn't as she shot a pleading look to Meri. Obediently, Meri came over and pried Connie off. "I'm sorry, I don't have any answers for you." Elena whispered. She couldn't believe her bad luck. That she'd technically escaped the hospital only to come back to it. That she'd appeared out of thin air in front of people that had no idea of the supernatural.

Damon snapped out of his shock and was the next person to rush toward her, pulling her in his arms and kissing her until he had no breath left in his lungs. Reluctantly, he pulled his face away and swept her hair out of her face, behind her ear. She leaned her cheek into his hand, comforted.

She didn't miss the low "Wow." That Connie uttered from the corner. Clearly the girl had never seen her friend kiss someone like that before.

"I thought I lost you again." Damon sighed, all of the earlier tension leaving his body now that she was in his arms again.

And solid.

She used her hands to touch his cheek as well. "You'll never lose me." She said. Not knowing why she made that impossible promise to him. "But we have a few problems." Elena muttered. As soon as she had seen everyone standing in that room, the reason why she was there had completely flown out of her mind. "I've been kidnapped, but I'm sure you figured that out already, since you're here and not at Aunt Judith's house."

"Wait, you aren't kidnapped, you're right here!" Connie explained, baffled. Elena must be REALLY sick in the head if she didn't realize that she was totally fine and standing with them. "I should go get the doctor."

"No!" Everyone in the room shouted at the same time, Meri surprisingly joined in and grabbed Connie's wrist as she tried to leave the room.

Connie's eyes widened, shocked at everyone's outburst. "But – you need help Elena." She said slowly, as if Elena wouldn't understand if she didn't.

Meri, though still holding onto Connie's wrist, shifted so she was blocking the door from her. "I think maybe we should let them explain exactly what's going on before we go and involve any doctors." She said soothingly, trying to get Connie to understand the oddness of the situation. The door hadn't opened and closed. It was a loud door. Elena wouldn't have been able to get into the room without them noticing and Meri wanted to know how she just appeared as if she'd never left.

And why she was in her regular nightgown, not the scrubs they'd seen her in earlier. It seemed as if she'd run home and gotten her favorite nightwear and then had come back.

Elena winced and seemed to glance toward Damon and then the others for guidance. But each of them shrugged. There wasn't a vampire in sight to be able to compel the girls away and she didn't think that Bonnie had the type of magic to just wipe some memories. Not without doing some other kind of damage.

She shifted her gaze over her new friends. "I'm so sorry. I would love to try to explain this all to you and I promise, I will. But there isn't enough time right now." She turned back to her own group of friends, urgency in her expression. "The woman who took me is crazy-"

"Mylea, your psychiatrist right?" Damon broke in, at Elena's nod, he continued. "Stefan just went to try to get information about her. Do you know where she's taken you?"

Connie and Meri shared a confused glance. None of what they were saying was making any sense at all, but the other's in the room didn't look confused. Maybe they were all crazy and belonged in the hospital.

"She's driving. She tied my hands and locked the doors so I couldn't get out so I made her angry and got her to knock me unconscious so I could come and warn you." Elena said, the words rushing out of her mouth. "We were fighting and she pulled over. The last place we were was the Methodist church, by the Grill."

"Okay. We've got to get you out of here undetected though." Damon said, squeezing his arm. "Jeremy, go round up Klaus and Stefan? We're going to need the both of them to get out of here." With a firm nod, Jeremy bolted from the room and Damon turned his attention to both of the unfamiliar girls, no longer with anger in his eyes. Not now that he had Elena standing next to him. "I know you probably would like to be involved with this search and rescue, but you can't."

Meri was about to protest but at the look in Elena's eyes, she stopped herself and shut her mouth. Elena pulled herself out of Damon's arms, even though she was reluctant to, and approached her two "friends."

"I know this seems strange and doesn't make any sense to you but after this is all over I will track you down and explain. But I can't have you telling anyone about this right now OR later." She took each one of their hands in hers and noticed that Connie's hand had a slight tremor. "You have to swear on your lives that you won't tell anyone, otherwise I will have them erase your memories." She said, her tone suggesting just how serious she was.

They both nodded, Meri slightly hesitant and Connie's sincere.

As Elena was about to turn away she dropped Meri's hand but Connie's tightened on hers in an almost death grip. "Elena." She said, her voice low and not like her own.

"Connie?" Though she'd only met the girl that day, she knew that something wasn't right when she stared into her eyes. "You okay?"

The girl didn't blink, her green eyes glazed over. "Elena. Don't go to the bridge."

* * *

Baby supplies safely tucked into the back seat, Matt held the passenger side door opened so that Rebekah could slip in. She sent him a grateful smile and he returned it as he shut the door. He walked past the front of the truck and got into the driver's side. "Ready?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes at him as he shifted the car into gear. "Lets just go. If we take any longer Caroline might have a fit." She glanced around the cab of the pickup truck, taking note of how clean and polished it looked on the inside. Almost as if he'd had it detailed. Though she knew he probably wouldn't waste money on something like that, it made her happy to think of him taking the time out of his day to do it himself. "Truck looks good. You've really been taking care of it." Rebekah said, sending him a quick smile.

Matt glanced over at her, a twinkle in his eye and a brow raised. "You know, I used to take care of my OLD truck too. I don't make a habit of crashing my vehicles into rivers." Though her skin was darker than he was used to, he could see the pink begin to pool in her cheeks and her ears turned slightly red in embarrassment. He chuckled. The look on her face was priceless. He reached over and gripped her hand, squeezing it. "Hey, it's no biggie, some hot chick bought me a new truck to say she was sorry."

Rebekah laughed, her embarrassment fading slightly. She'd done her best to make up for what she did, with the new truck and taking him on a trip around the world, and she still genuinely felt horrible about it. She had been trying to protect herself and her family, even though sometimes she felt as if they weren't deserving of the protection, or her unwavering loyalty.

It did help that everything had turned out alright in the end.

Now, the thought of her hurting Matt brought shivers to her spine. Even if they hadn't agreed to give it a shot at a relationship, she would never want anything bad to befall him. He was one of the purest person she had ever known.

He was one of the good ones.

They drove in companionable silence, just happy to sit there and hold hands. Luckily no one else was on the road and they approached the hidden driveway to the Salvatore house quickly. Just as they were about to pull into the driveway, a car honked, coming almost out of nowhere. Matt slammed on the breaks and held his arm out in front of Rebekah so that she wouldn't fly foward too much.

He nearly growled as he saw Enzo flip him the bird from the driver's seat as they passed.

From the back seat of the car, he saw Sarah sitting there, her hand raised up in a hesitant wave as she stared at him.

Rebekah coughed. "And WHO is that?"

Matt chuckled, following Enzo's car. "Jealous?"

Rebekah crossed her arms and stared out the window. "No! Not at all."

"That's Sarah Salvatore, well… Sarah Nelson. She's the traveler that they were sent to get, Damon and Stefan's relative. Enzo had some big master plan with her that he kind of blackmailed me into, but it never went that far and I'm pretty sure with Lily back, he's forgotten all about it. Thank God." He said, shaking his head. He'd hated being involved in Enzo's diabolical plans, but there was little he could do to stop him as a human.

Rebekah seemed to thaw a little as she dropped her arms. "Alright. I suppose that's an acceptable answer." She replaced her frown with a smile. "I know you've probably been with other people so I really should get over it, shouldn't I?"

He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "Green is not a good color on you." Matt said, grinning. He didn't want to encourage her, but she looked cute when she was jealous. And thankfully (hopefully?) she wouldn't be inclined to kill anyone that might show a little interest him in the future.

They pulled up in the circular driveway, right behind Enzo's car and got out quickly. Matt reached in the back seat to grab the bag for Hope before turning and looking over at the other three. Sarah was leaning against the trunk of Enzo's truck with her arms crossed, clearly pissed off at being involved in all the nonsense.

"Where is everyone?' Enzo asked, tossing his keys up into the air and catching them.

Matt shrugged, pushing past him and meeting back up with Rebekah on the other side of the truck. "Don't know."

Rebekah sighed. She could clearly see that Matt had something against Enzo, but they WERE trying to work together. "Everyone is out following their own leads right now. They should be back soon."

Sarah tossed her hands up in the air. "Well, that's just perfect. No one is here and there is nothing I can do. I want to go home."

Enzo spun toward her, a smirk on his face. "And I want to run along the beach and jump into my own arms, but that's not going to happen either."

Sarah rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the car, following Matt toward the front entrance of the house.

Lily approached Enzo, snickering. "You know sweetheart, you should probably be nicer to the girl, we are related and she IS going to help us find Elena." She suggested.

Enzo's expression turned cold. "You aren't related to her. She's related to that cad you called a husband." He said, his tone threatening. "I wish he were still alive so I could kill him."

She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know, there are times I feel the same. But that's the past now and we are finally together. And this girl IS related to Stefan, so try to lessen the sarcasm if you can." She reached up on her tippy toes and kissed him full on the lips. "Common, maybe we can get her set up so that we can be of some help as well."

The moment Matt stepped into the door, Caroline let out a shout of relief. "Oh thank GOD you are here." She said, as she walked back and forth, bouncing the crying baby on her hip. "I can't get her to stop crying. And she has a dirty diaper but I had no other diapers to change her into...and I was thinking of actually using one of Damon's shirts just to piss him off but then I remembered that he was so nice to me earlier so I probably shouldn't and plus Elena's body is in his room and I didn't want to see her and it would probably be a bad idea for the baby to see her but I couldn't leave her down here while I went up there-"

"Oh God, shut up." Rebekah laughed, grabbing Hope from Caroline's arms as she tried to sooth the baby. "We've come to your rescue, no need to freak out anymore."

Caroline wanted to be angry at Rebekah for her comment, but she was just too happy to see them. "Well if Matt had answered my first call, I wouldn't be freaking out so much." She grinned wickedly at the both of them. "Just WHAT were you doing that you couldn't answer your phone."

She was satisfied as she watched Matt's face instantly become bright red. "Ha." Caroline said, turning toward the others entering as she heard the door open once again. "Oh! Hi… I didn't realize you guys were here too." She said nervously, meeting Sarah's gaze. She REALLY had wanted to be out of the vicinity when she showed up.

But Sarah only looked at her unimpressed. "Oh, you're part of all of this too. Super." She said, deadpanned.

Caroline laughed uneasily. "Um, yeah I'm one of Elena's friends. I just wanted to say I am SO sorry for what happened. I don't know if it helps but I was going through a REALLY rough time and sometimes vampires-"

Sarah rolled her eyes again and held up her hands to stop the girl from speaking. It effectively shut her up. "I really don't care to know anything about vampires. I just want to do whatever it is that you need to be done and then get the hell out of here." She said, her voice soft, but firm. She glanced around the house curiously. "Nice house though." She said, stepping into the main room without anyone telling her it was alright to. Hey, if they were going to force her to stay, she was going to explore.

Rebekah grabbed the baby's bag from Matt with a quick thank you and left the room, leaving the others to stare at Rebekah as she walked around the grand room, picking things up and putting them down again after examining them. She took note of the damage to the fireplace… obviously someone had been very angry. Though Enzo and Lily had explained a little bit of what happened on the way over so she could understand there being some high emotions that caused the cracks in the stone.

She slowly made her way over to the back of the room and saw a few framed photo's on a table. Sarah picked one up. Surprised, she turned toward Enzo. "Why is there a picture of my parents friend here?"

Lily approached the girl, seeing that she was holding a picture of Damon and Elena. "Are you talking about the man or the woman?"

"This man… Damon. He's friends with my father. He used to spend some time at the house." She said, slamming the photo back on the table.

The glass shattered.

"So all your family does is lie and manipulate huh?" Sarah asked, her eyes furious. "Why was he manipulating my dad? What was he doing to my family."

Caroline stepped forward, trying to calm the situation but determined to not let her know that Damon was the reason both her parents were dead. "Damon knew you were family probably. He mentioned recently that you were a beneficiary on his will so he was probably just trying to keep up with you without you knowing it."

Sarah took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "So he IS a vampire too?"

"Eh." Caroline shrugged. "No, not really anymore. He was turned into a human a few days ago."

Sarah didn't say anything in response, suddenly sorry that she had shattered the picture frame. With Caroline's admission she realized that it was Damon who had lost his Elena, that she was brought to help find. Damon had always seemed so off limits when he visited her father. She'd never really spoken to him much, he'd always kept his distance. But he'd always been very polite. Now that she knew the reason for the visit, their friendship made a lot more sense. The two of them seemed like polar opposites and Damon appeared much younger than her adopted father.

She didn't say anything to Caroline, she didn't have anything else to say to the people that were creepily staring at her. Making her way over to the couch, she threw herself down on it to wait.

A wave of exhaustion hit her then, and she yawned. Oddly she hadn't been tired all day until just now, but with all the things she was finding out she supposed it made sense.

Caroline bit her fingernail, not knowing what else to say. It was a very awkward situation.

She was just about to offer Sarah something to drink when the lights flickered and went off.

"Oh, that's not creepy at all…" Sarah muttered. She was literally stuck in the dark with a room of vampires.

Could her day get any better?

"Really?!" Caroline shouted. Thankfully there was still a fire going in the fireplace so they weren't completely out of light. She was startled to realize that it had already gotten dark outside.

Matt sighed from across the room. "Great. Does anyone know where the breaker is in this old house?"

When everyone shook their heads, he turned to Lily for advice. She frowned. "What's a breaker?"

Enzo let out a snort. "It's a box that has the electricity in it, sort of."

Her lips tilted into a grimace. "I know the house like the back of my hand, but when I was alive, we didn't have electricity."

Enzo sighed, motioning toward Matt. "I'll check around the house outside, you take a look downstairs." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a zippo lighter, walking over to a table on the other side of the room and lighting one of the ancient and unused oil lamps Damon had lying around the house. He picked up the top and lit the wick, then put the glass casing back down. Adjusting the light so it wasn't too bright, he picked it up and handed it to Matt. "Do you think you'll be able to handle that?"

Matt sneered at him. "Of course I'll be able to handle it." Shooting a look over to Caroline, his gaze softened. "Could you see if Rebekah is okay? It's probably not that easy changing a diaper in the dark."

She nodded. "That's actually a good idea. Since she's a witch maybe she can light all the candles for us." She let out a nervous laugh.

Something about this didn't seem right to her. She'd spend PLENTY of time in this house and not once, even during a bad storm that they'd had last year, had the power even flickered. She assumed it was because Damon always kept things in good working order.

As Matt disappeared down the stairs to the cellar and Enzo slipped out of the back, she glanced over to the two women left in the room. "Do you guys want to come with me or do you want to wait here?"

Sarah shrugged. "I'm comfortable here, there's still light."

Lily smiled, sitting down on the other couch, placing her folded hands in her lap. "I'll wait with Sarah here."

She wasn't even halfway outside of the room when she was able to hear Matt running downstairs, his muffled voice panicked. She raced toward the door just as he was finished running back up the stairs.

Caroline reached out to steady him as he panted for breath. "What's wrong?" She asked, scanning him for any kind of injury.

"Tyler. He got out."

* * *

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	33. Chapter 33

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 33**

"Death is at the bridge."

Bonnie gasped bringing her hand to cover her mouth. This just couldn't be happening again. Was it just the other day that she was explaining this to Jeremy, about what she had seen, what she had FELT, just a few years ago on the day his parents died? To hear those same words spoken by another person's mouth, after touching Elena, was chilling. She stared at the girl that was holding Elena's hand, terrified. The girl that shared such a close name to her own was obviously a witch and had no idea.

After everything that they'd done, after everything they'd sacrificed, were they still going to lose their best friend to that bridge?

Elena matched Connie's hard grip, also terrified. What was it about that damn bridge? Was it because she always cheated death there and wasn't supposed to? Was this some horrible "Final Destination" movie, where death would always come for her, no matter what? "Connie, can you tell me anything else?" She asked, her voice low as it wavered. She could feel Damon come up behind her and place a supportive hand on her shoulder.

But Connie didn't say another word, she just stared straight at her without blinking. Meri reached over and lightly slapped her pale cheek. Connie blinked a few times and turned to Meri with a frown. "Why did you just hit me?"

Meri sighed. "Because you were saying weird things and freaking everyone out. Telling Elena about the bridge again. Come, we all have to get out of here." She sent a quick, sharp look toward Elena. "Is the church you stopped at by a bridge?"

Damon's gaze shifted to Connie at Meri's first statement. "You've told Elena about the bridge before?"

Meri clenched her jaw at being interrupted, shooting Damon a glare.

Connie bit her lip in frustration, nodding slightly. "For the past few years supposedly. I only know what Elena's told me that I say, I never actually remember what pops out of my mouth."

Elena shuddered. Just thinking about that bridge brought back the feeling of water entering her lungs and her struggling to breathe. Brought back memories of her father telling her he loved her, and watching Stefan swim away with an unconscious Matt. She turned her attention back to Meri to answer her question so she didn't feel ignored. She could tell that Damon was pissing her off but there was little she could do about it. "It's somewhat close… In the same general direction but it would take about ten minutes to get there from the church. I don't know if she headed there or in another direction."

Was history really going to repeat… again?

Damon took Elena's hand and tugged her to get out of Connie's death grip. He swore after all of this was over he was going to blow up that bridge and fill that river with concrete. The only thing that bridge brought was misery. There were other ways around, no one would miss it.

He shrugged out of his jacket, struggling slightly to get it back over the cast. It was hard enough getting it on earlier, but taking it off seemed to be a whole nothing adventure. Eventually, Elena took pity on him and slipped her fingers under the fabric, then pulled. He grinned up at her as he slipped it on over her own arms.

"Button that up, it will at least hide the fact that you're wearing a nightgown, now it just looked like you're wearing a dress." He said to her softly as he touched his hand to her cheek. He looked at the rest of them. "We're getting out of here right now, I don't care if we have to run past every doctor on the floor, we'll figure something out." He said, his voice firm. Elena could only nod numbly as they attempted to leave the room.

As Damon reached for the knob, the door swung open, almost hitting him in the face. Stefan snickered slightly before seeing the urgent look in his brother's eyes. "Sorry." He muttered, the humor draining from his expression. "We're all here." And they were, the three of them standing alert on the other side of the door. "Klaus and I took care of everyone on the way here so we should be okay to go." He shot Elena a smile. "Good to see you're sort of back with us for the time being." She nodded in response, happy to see him too. "Let's go." He said, holding the door for everyone.

The hallway was completely void of people thanks to the vampires, and they rushed as quickly as they could toward the exit doors.

"Shit." Damon muttered, coming to a dead stop in front of the exit, seeing the security door in front of them. Of course it would be secured, it was a floor for mental patients, they couldn't just walk in and out. Klaus and Stefan would have to break it open.

Stefan turned back to everyone with a smirk, hearing his brother curse. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a key card. "Already got that covered brother." He said, glad to be the fast thinker of the pair for once.

"Hey, that's my sister's!" Connie exclaimed, a pout on her face. Then the realized that she yelled at someone who could use mind control and realized her mistake. Stupid girl, she said, berating herself. She should really learn to keep her mouth shut. She bit her lower lip, hoping that the hot guy that she'd been slightly crushing on hadn't done anything to hurt Mary and wouldn't do anything to her for speaking up.

Stefan smiled gently at the girl, whose eyes looked ready to bug out of her head at any moment. "Don't worry, I simply asked for it and told her that I would give it to you so that you could give it back to her later."

Connie visibly relaxed. "Oh okay. Good!" She said, perking up.

Stefan nodded, swiping the access card through the slot and waited for a moment until there was a loud click and the light turned green before he opened the door. He held the door open for everyone as they filtered through and then handed the card over to Connie as she passed with a half smile, trying to put her at ease and convey that he wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't hard to figure out what she'd been thinking earlier and he didn't want to scare her away. She looked down at the floor, a blush quickly blossoming across her cheeks.

Rolling his eyes, Damon quickened his pace, Elena's hand clutched in his. "Now's not exactly prime time for you kids to be flirting, we have things to do." He said, gritting his teeth. He knew Stefan needed to get laid, but this was ridiculous. "Since I'm sure you girls want to be involved and do something, do you have any idea where Nancy lives?" He asked, ignoring the elevator this time around and making his way toward the stairs. He wasn't sure if it would be faster or not, but he would feel better if he were to keep moving.

Elena nodded her head at the suggestion, as she ran as fast as she could beside him but it wasn't an easy task with her not having shoes, or socks on her feet. She wasn't about to point that out to Damon though, she didn't think he'd actually noticed and the last thing she needed was for him to offer to carry her when he had a broken hand. Absentmindedly, she wondered why no one had tried to fix that yet. She threw a glance over her shoulder at Meri. "Yes, it would be a great idea to check in on her. It's too much of a coincidence that she never called back after the doctor called her. I'm a little worried."

"We do know where she lives, we've dropped you off a few times at her house after school for your sessions." Meri said cautiously, still having a hard time believing that Elena had lost her memory. She kept reminding herself that after they found Elena… whatever the hell THAT meant… they would finally get some answers. She still didn't trust these people, but it seemed as if they had Elena's best interest at heart, for the moment.

"Bonnie, Jeremy… you go with them to Nancy's house. There may be a possibility that the woman is hurt or worse. If not, maybe she has some answers for us. Stefan, you follow behind my car." Damon ordered. "Call Ric and see if he can head them off before the bridge. I texted him earlier and told him to be on standby in case anything were to come up, so he should be available and ready to go at a moment's notice."

Though everyone felt the need to disagree with his planning as they exited the hospital, everyone knew better. He was the fast thinker, their master-planner and with so little time to spare, there wasn't time to get into a heated debate about what was right to do and what wasn't. Jeremy desperately wanted to go help his sister, but he would not argue with Damon, not right now. Even Connie and Meri, who didn't know him, and didn't trust him,could tell that with his no-nonsense tone and the way his friends were reacting to it, that it was better to just follow his orders. So with lips sealed, everyone rushed to their respective cars.

Jeremy gave Elena a quick kiss on the forehead before jumping into the back of Meri's car. He didn't miss the odd, suspicious look that Meri gave him through the rearview mirror.

Damon opened the door and pushed the passenger seat up so that Elena could maneuver herself into the back. The less people who were able to see her, the better. He had no idea how many police officers were out looking for her and if they caught a glimpse of her in the front seat, they would seriously slow them down, even though they had Klaus as a backup plan, they didn't know if they would be able to compel anyone before they called in for reinforcements and backup. After he saw that she was comfortable, he slid into the back next to her.

"Since when was I appointed your personal chauffeur?" Klaus asked, slightly amused that Damon had followed Elena into the back seat of his own car. Seeing Damon struggle to close the door, Elena had to wiggle herself between the two front seats in order to close the door for Damon since he couldn't do it with his casted hand.

"Your reflexes are better than mine right now, with my stupid hand. Don't get used to it, I never let anyone else drive my car." He said gruffly. He was itching to drive it by himself but he knew it would be a bad decision given his current emotional state as well as his broken hand.

As Klaus threw the car into reverse, Elena quickly slipped backward , her butt harshly hitting the middle of the back seat. She met his eyes in the rearview mirror with a glare, but the only thing he sent back was a look of amusement. Deciding to ignore him, she turned her attention back to Damon, happily wedging herself under his arm. "You let me drive your baby once."

Damon sorted. "Yeah, and you scratched it. Which is why I only let you ONCE." He said, holding up his index finger as if to make a point. Elena rolled her eyes, glad that they could be somewhat normal with each other when it really felt like the world was falling apart.

"Are we heading straight for the bridge then?' Klaus asked, speeding out of the parking lot.

Elena nodded. "I think that's what's best, right? If we get there before she does we can head her off." She shrugged, burying herself deeper into Damon's embrace, happy to finally be there. He squeezed her shoulder, and she felt him kiss the top of her head gently. It was nice to feel safe for once. "I'm not sure she'll care to stop though, to be honest." She said thoughtfully. "She's kind of crazy. Wasn't making much sense."

Damon shifted so that he could look at her. He raised his casted hand and used the slight movement of his index finger in order to move some hair behind her ear. She looked troubled, which made sense, but he wished he could wipe that look right off her face. "Crazier than how you sounded when you didn't believe that we were real?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows, trying to lighten the mood.

Elena didn't know if she should hit him or kiss him. She knew what he was doing but couldn't bring herself to fall into the trap right now. If she were to let herself get comfortable, then she may not remember things later. "Funny." She sighed. "She was telling me that I was a guardian and-"

Suddenly both her and Damon were hurtling forward as Klaus slammed on the breaks. Damon flung his arm out in front of Elena to be sure she didn't hit her head on the back of the front seat. "Are you out of your MIND right now?" Damon shouted, doing his best to keep his hands to himself. There was nothing he wanted more than to punch Klaus for the stunt.

Not even bothering to pull to the side of the road, Klaus unbuckled his seatbelt and turned fully around to face Elena. "You said Guardian." He said, his previously soft eyes had turned completely cold and hard and there was an edge to his voice that Damon and Elena hadn't heard in a very long time.

Elena's hand shook slightly in Damon's. "Y-yes."

Klaus's eyes glazed over as he glanced out the window. "I suppose that would make sense. I knew she was different, special. There was no way I could have imagined that though." He turned back to meet her eyes. "What else did she say to you?"

Not sure if she should tell him the extent of what Mylea said, Elena hesitated.

Damon leaned over her, trying to catch Klaus's attention. "Can we possibly have this conversation while driving? We aren't going to get to the bottom of anything if we aren't moving." He said, being sure to make his voice calm. He didn't want to piss Klaus off right now, it was clear there was something wrong with what Elena had said.

Klaus's gaze shifted from one to the other and back again before he took in a deep breath and let it out again, seeming to snap out of whatever spell he'd been under. "Keep talking as I drive. I want to know everything out of the woman's mouth." He growled, sliding back toward the front and clicking his belt back into place.

Elena shared a look with Damon, worried. He could see it swirling in her eyes, the question on if she should say everything she knew. He squeezed her hand in reassurance and nodded slightly. They didn't have much else to lose at the moment. He only hoped that Klaus's love for Caroline would override whatever interest he had in a Guardian. Something he'd never even heard of before.

Though to be fair, he didn't know what a doppelganger was until only a few years ago either.

Damon grimaced at the thought.

It would be just like Elena to jump from one special, rare supernatural being, to an even more desirable one.

Elena closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to remember what it is that Mylea had been saying right before she knocked her out. "She told me that Elena was a Guardian, and that she had a mission to handle. I was so fed up that I actually told her that I wasn't in the right body, that I was a traveler that had accidentally jumped into Elena. I was hoping once I told her that she would let me go, but she said that it didn't matter. It wasn't Elena's soul, it was the body that they needed to complete the missions. Whoever was in it was inconsequential." She opened her eyes and met Klaus's again in the mirror. "She said I was born to kill you and your family."

Klaus nodded, pressing down harder on the gas. "Makes sense." He said under his breath. Everyone was out to get him, why would this be any difference? "I don't know a lot about Guardians, as far as I had heard, they weren't around anymore but I suppose they could have just been in hiding this whole time. Elijah would know more about them than myself. If this becomes an issue, we'll have to give him a call even though he left strict orders that he not be bothered." He studied her thoughtfully in the mirror. "One would think if you were a Guardian you wouldn't age, but the body you're in now, has. She was younger before."

"The woman could possibly be crazy. I'm not sure. But either way...I told her no." Elena said, forcing some strength into her voice. She'd been pretty brave up until this point and she wasn't going to shy away from danger now. She supposed it was because his look had reminded her of all the horrible things he'd done in the past, to her… to her family... and she was trying VERY hard to look past that right now. He had helped them so much in the past few days so she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

She knew that Caroline had feelings for him and she wasn't about to give her hell the same way that Caroline had when she'd started dating Damon. Even though logically, she had more of a reason to be upset with Caroline's choice. But Elena also knew what it was like to have your emotions shut off and she wondered if Klaus had the switch flipped when he'd first come to town.

They met eyes again in the mirror and she could see a little light return to them as he bowed his head slightly. "I'm very grateful for that." He said softly, and for a moment she was finally able to see the resemblance between him and his brother Elijah. He'd dropped the sarcasm that was ever present in his tone. He actually sounded sensere.

She shifted her gaze back over to Damon. "She said she kidnapped me because she was trying to protect me. Because she'd seen you and Stefan in the hospital and had heard that you've previously worked with Klaus."

Damon rolled his eyes heavenward. "Fantastic, someone who thinks they're the good team. Can't WAIT to meet this woman in person." Elena sunk more deeply into his arms as Klaus took a sharp turn into the square. "Looks like we'll be meeting her soon…" He muttered, glancing up at the clocktower. He was thankful that no one was hanging out in the square that night, as Klaus had not looked at all when he had turned into the usually busy intersection.

A vibration from his back pocket startled him and he shifted his arm from around Elena to pull the offending object from his back pocket. When he was able to maneuver it back in front of him he saw that it was actually his OWN phone that he was holding. Bonnie must have slipped it into his back pocket when he wasn't paying attention. Or used some of her witchy voo-doo to magic it into his back pocket.

Grateful for his phone, no matter how it ended up in his pocket, he hit the green answer button and held it to his ear. "What's the story."

Ric seemed slightly out of breath, as if he was rushing. "Where are you right now?"

"Just passed the square. Stefan got in touch with you?" Damon asked, squinting at the road ahead. It was dark out and the streetlights were on, but he couldn't see much in the way of cars ahead.

"Yeah. We were picking up dinner at the Grill when he told me to get to the bridge. I was trying to call Matt to see if we could set up a road block but he's not answering his phone." Damon could hear a door slamming in the background. "I parked right in front of the bridge. She's not going to be able to get through my truck."

"Good. We're almost there." Damon said, thankful that something was finally going right. "Maybe five or six minutes away."

Elena stared at him questioningly unable to even hear who was on the phone. He mouthed Ric's name to her and she nodded in understanding. She held out her hand so she could speak with him and Damon passed the phone over.

"Ric?" She asked, even though she knew it was him on the other end.

She heard him chuckle on the other end. "Hey there kiddo. How are you holding up?" His voice warmed her and made her feel so much better. She could hear the affection over the phone and it made the tension in her shoulders lessen just slightly.

"Alright, I guess." She glanced up as she noticed them pass the church she'd been in front of with Mylea before. "We're almost to you, but she may have taken a detour or something. I'm not sure how long it was between when she knocked me unconscious and when I popped up back at the hospital but it's been at least ten minutes since then. It shouldn't have taken her that long to get to you." She admitted worriedly.

Maybe they had the clues all wrong. Maybe Mylea was taking her somewhere else for now and then at some other time they would be crossing over that bridge. Some other time when they wouldn't be able to catch her.

If that were the case, she hopped that Jeremy and the others would be able to track down Nancy and see what Mylea did to her. Hopefully she'd been left alone and would know something. Or maybe Mylea had set up in her own house and they'd sent THEM into a trap. Though Bonnie and Jeremy weren't vampires, they weren't defenceless. But she worried if they also had to take care of two innocent bystanders. Especially when those human bystanders had no idea what they were walking into.

"Um… Elena?" Ric's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm still here." She assured him.

"Do you happen to remember what kind of car you were kidnapped in?" His voice was calm, but she could hear the nervousness began to creep in at the end of his sentence.

She shook her head, trying to think. She shared a panicked look with Damon beside her. "No, I can only tell you that it was a car, not an suv or anything. I never saw the outside of it. The interior was a dark fabric, but that's all I know. What's going on?" Damon leaned over beside her so he could hear what Ric was saying but she rolled her eyes and pressed the speaker phone so they could all hear him.

Ric hesitated on the other end. "Well, I can see a car coming in this direction and I've already set up some flares, but they don't seem to care at all. The car isn't stopping."

"Ric," Damon started. "Don't be a hero. Move out of the way. You have a family to think about now."

But Ric wasn't paying attention and he must have dropped the phone on the pavement because all they could hear was him screaming at Jo to get out of the truck.

"Oh my God…" Elena thought, her hands shaking. She tossed the phone into Damon's lap. "I can't let this happen to them. What if Connie didn't mean my death, what if she meant theirs?" She said, frantically trying to think of something.

She leaned forward, putting her hand on Klaus's shoulder. "Go faster!" She screeched, even though she could see the speedometer was at it's max. They were very lucky that no one else was on the road in front of them.

"I'm trying." Klaus said through clenched teeth. She could feel Damon put a supportive hand on her back but it did nothing to comfort her. "He can't get her seat belt unhooked." Klaus said under his breath, being able to hear Ric and Jo's frantic screaming on the other end of the line, though he wasn't sure Damon and Elena could hear it and he wasn't sure if he should have mentioned anything to them. From what he was hearing over the phone, the two were gonners. He knew Alaric enough to know that he wasn't about to leave his new, pregnant wife and safe himself. He wasn't that kind of man.

Behind her, Elena could hear Damon shouting into the phone for Ric to just drive the car out of the way, but she knew that Ric would never be able to hear him.

There was nothing they could do to stop this.

Unless….

She wiped away the tears she didn't realize had been flowing down her cheeks and she concentrated, hard. If she were able to find Damon when she was unconscious, then she damn well should be able to have the power to wake herself up on the other end.

She thought of the smell of the car, the feeling of the blanket scratching against her all too sensitive skin. Thought of being there, in the back seat, with Mylea screaming at her to do the right thing. She thought about how much she wanted… no… NEEDED to save Ric and Jo and their unborn child.

"ELENA! Don't you DARE think about it." Damon shouted. He'd glanced up to see her fading again. He tried to reach out to grab her arm, but it went right through. "I told Ric not to play the hero and that goes for you too." He demanded.

She turned to him, a sad look in her eye. "I have to do SOMETHING." She said. She smiled, feeling confident that she could help. "I love you Damon."

And then she was gone.

In the fucking blink of an eye… she was gone again.

Damon tossed the phone against the other side of the camaro in frustration pleased to hear it crack. He wanted to destroy everything. WOULD destroy everything, if she ended up hurt.

He met Klaus's gaze in the mirror, both of their eyes cold and determined. "Drive faster."

* * *

This time, the moment that Elena realized she was awake, she wasn't groggy and thankfully, was not confused in the slightest. Adrenaline was racing through her veins, making her ready to pop up and attack the woman driving right away, but she realized that she had to be smarter than that.

She was tied tighter this time, now, not only were her ankles bound with duct tape, but it seemed like she'd gone to the extreme after she knocked her out and had duct taped the length of her legs together completely. Elena could also feel that the blanket had been thrown back on top of her.

All the duct tape must be the reason they were so delayed, getting from the church to the bridge.

And the kicker… she felt that Mylea had gotten even more creative with the duct tape and covered her mouth with it, but wrapped it completely around her head to hold the tape still.

That was going to be a bitch to get off later.

I guess she didn't want any more spit in her face, Elena thought. It may be uncomfortable, but she was pleased with herself none the less.

Realizing that she had little time to spare, Elena got into position and shoved off the blanket off, quickly lunging forward toward the front seat drivers side.

Mylea clearly hadn't been expecting the ambush and turned to her in shock, opening her mouth wide to cry out as Elena looped her arms around her neck from behind and started to choke the woman out. Elena yanked her head back as far as she could against the headrest.

"Stop this, Elena!' Mylea choked out. using one of her hands to continue steering while she dug the the nails of her other hand into Elena's arms trying to let her go. "I'm… trying to help you."

Elena didn't care about the pain in her arms as the woman scratched and tried to bite. She only cared that she could now see the bridge… and Ric's car approaching. He wasn't even paying attention, she could only see his legs under the passenger door. He was leaned over trying to fix Jo's belt.

Jo however, was staring straight ahead at the car in horror.

Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to get Mylea to slow down the car, or pass out by the time that they got there, Elena did the only thing she could think of.

She unhooked her arms from Mylea's neck, and she heard the woman's quick sigh of relief before she realized exactly what Elena's plan was.

Elena threw her entire body over the front seat, grabbing onto the steering wheel and knocking Mylea's hand off. Mylea tried to regain control but Elena's entire body was blocking her way.

With a quick flick of her wrists, Elena jerked the wheel toward her.

In what felt like slow motion, the car flipped and she bounced at the sudden impact, shocked to at first find herself on the ceiling of the car and then slammed down into the front passenger seat. It only lasted a moment before she was sent flying again against the passenger side, the glass shattering against her head.

She tried to put her arms out to break her fall as the car flipped yet again, but the moment she tried to brace herself against the dashboard, the front of the car crumpled and her left arm twisted painfully. Over all of the sounds of the car, she could swear she heard a loud crack as it bent at an unnatural angle. She let out a muffled scream of pain as the car bounced once more, landing once again on the passenger side.

With the glass gone, and no way to hold herself up, the last thing she saw was the pavement coming up to meet her.

* * *

**Ouch**

**Come visit me over on facebook. facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForeverTVD**

**Also, I have to give credit where credit is due. My husband and I are HUGE fans of WWE (It's literally the only thing we watch anymore) and his favorite wrestler at the moment is Enzo Amore. That's where Enzo's line came from last chapter ("I'd love to run along the beach into my own arms, but that's not gonna happen") **


	34. Chapter 34

**The End Of Forever **

**Chapter 34**

"Since the others were in SUCH a rush and we seem to have all the time in the world, maybe it would be a good idea for you to start telling us what's going on." Meri suggested from the driver's seat. She didn't bother looking at either of the two strange occupants in the back seat through her mirror, she could feel how uncomfortable they were just sitting there in silence.

Bonnie and Jeremy exchanged an uneasy look with each other. "It's not really our story to tell." Bonnie said simply, hoping that the younger girl would understand her problem and stop with the questions. She understood that it wasn't fair to ask them to go into this blind, but there was little she could do about it.

Connie shifted herself in the seat next to her best friend, so that she could look over at the two. Her seat belt dug into her shoulder uncomfortably but she didn't care. For once, maybe SHE would get the answers. "We understand that this has to do with Elena but if we're going to help you, we need to know what we're walking into, don't you think? Maybe you could tell us just a little bit?" She held up her fingers close together.

Meri shot her a small smile, proud of her for speaking up for once and not being shy about it. Connie had a tendency to be a little shy, though she wasn't that way with their close knit group of friends. She also had a long standing habit of letting people walk all over her (Like their ex-friend Carolyn) that she and Elena had been trying to break her out of for years.

Bonnie sighed, meeting the girls green eyes. She was right of course. It only ever got them into trouble when they were trying to protect someone and keep them out of the loop. "Alright, I don't really know where to start though."

This time, Meri DID look up into the mirror, meeting the boy's dark brown eyes. "Start by telling us how you REALLY know Elena." That's the question she wanted answered first. She was SURE that Elena would have told them about this group of friends and if not the entire group, then at the very least, she would have mentioned Damon to them. There was no way they had just met, judging by the kiss they'd shared at the hospital and she really didn't think she could keep that steamy of a love affair from them.

She'd been dating Scott not that long ago and while sometimes Elena was a little spoiled and liked to get whatever she wanted, and liked for things to always go her way, she wasn't the type of person to cheat. She didn't have romantic feelings for Scott, it was more of a puppy love, but she HAD loved him and Meri was positive that she would never have hurt him like that.

PLUS… it seemed as if Elena had lost her memory of everyone and everything beside this strange group of friends. Of course she was suspicious.

Meri worried that they'd used whatever mind control and purposely wiped Elena's memory clear of her original friends and family so that they could take her away.

But if that were the case, why were they letting them help try to find her?

Jeremy signed, knowing that Meredith and Connie weren't going to drop the subject. They did have every right to know what was going on. Sort of. He groaned, damning Damon for putting them in this situation. He must have known that they would ask questions, otherwise he would have just sent the two on their own. "The Elena that you know, and the Elena that WE know, is a different Elena. Even though it appears that they even have the same last name. My name is Jeremy Gilbert. Elena is my older sister. That's actually my cousin." He sent Connie a lopsided grin. "That's a story for another time though."

He watched as Connie practically went cross-eyed trying to understand.

Bonnie reached out a hand to cover Connie's shoulder and visibly flinched. This girl was FILLED with power, and had absolutely no idea. "Connie, do you believe in the supernatural at all?" She asked, trying to be as vague as possible.

Connie immediately perked up, a large smile spreading across her face. "Yes! My grandmother says that we're descendants from druids and that we even had a few ancestors from Salem. She told me I was psychic."

Bonnie's eyebrows shot up in surprise at how similar their stories were. Celtic magic was different than her own, but it was still very powerful. "Well, that's a start at least. Did your grandmother explain anything else to you about being psychic and any kind of magic? Like the visions you've been seeing?"

Connie's smile turned into a grimace. "No, she passed away about a month after she told me."

Squeezing her shoulder in support, Bonnie certainly knew how that felt, she comforted the girl. "Well, I can tell you that your grandmother was a little off base. You aren't so much psychic as you are a witch."

Connie jumped as far as she could from her seat, with her seat belt wrapping itself tightly around here. She pointed at Meri who was still calmly driving as if not paying attention to her. "I TOLD you!"

Meri cast her a sideways glance, still trying to keep her eyes on the road. "I never said you weren't."

Settling back down in her seat, Connie was surprised. "But you never said anything to support me.' She said, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

Shrugging, Meri flipped on the blinker and made a right into a more residential area. "I didn't think you NEEDED support. You said you were a witch, I didn't argue with you."

Connie frowned, turning back to Bonnie and Jeremy in the back seat. "I don't really see what this has to do with Elena though."

Glad that there was no argument about being a witch, Bonnie smiled. "It has everything to do with Elena. You see, if you know, or believe in the supernatural, you might understand a little more easily. Elena, OUR Elena… is something called a traveler, among other things. She accidentally traveled into YOUR Elena's body while your Elena was trying to kill herself."

"So that's why she doesn't know who we are, but knows who you are." Meri stated simply, understanding… sort of.

"Yes." Bonnie said, nodding even though Meri wasn't looking at her.

Connie sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But that makes no sense. Our Elena has been talking about you guys for a while. Or at least, she's called me Bonnie on MORE than one occasion AND I know I've heard her say Damon's name more than once."

Jeremy and Bonnie shared a confused look. "We don't know about that. We've never met your friend before now." Jeremy said.

"It's possible that there is something very special about your Elena too though." Bonnie chimed in. "Our Elena is a traveler, among other things. But she's never been able to project herself before. It seems like now, whenever she went to sleep in her physical body she would pop up by us. At first, Damon was only able to see her as a ghost, kind of. He wasn't able to touch her. But she's gradually gotten more powerful and you can touch her." She shrugged. "I don't know if that's from your Elena, but I'm positive that it's not something that our Elena could ever do before."

Meri sent a quick glance over to Connie, who looked like she was thinking too hard. "Con, do you remember when Elena would kind of zone out and start talking about other people?" Connie nodded, meeting her gaze. "Could she have been projecting herself somewhere else? It didn't start until her parents accident and I know that sometimes, accidents and trauma bring that kind of thing about." She shifted her gaze back to the road. "It wouldn't explain her extreme paranoia but everything else would sort of make sense. She was definitely seeing things that were NOT there."

Connie lifted her arms and dropped them, a little frustrated. "I have no idea, she was too weird after the accident." She laughed nervously. "Don't get me wrong, I love her, she's like a sister to me. But she got a little scary for a while there. She seemed to be getting better though, for a little while, until she tried to kill herself of course." Connie tilted her head, her eyes watering a little. "Does this mean Elena is actually dead? If your friend body snatched her?"

Bonnie laughed at the term, but she supposed that is what it was. "I can't promise you anything. We've had it happen on occasion where someone traveled into another body and the other person was still in there just waiting to be let back in control. But because she was already trying to kill herself, I'm really not sure. We have no way of knowing until our Elena jumps back into her own body." She took note of the houses they were passing as Meredith began to slow the car in front of a few large Victorian houses.

"This is the weirdest conversation I've ever been a part of." Meri muttered under her breath as she put the car into park in front of the corner victorian house. She spun, just like Connie, to look at the two in the back of her car. "Klaus and Stefan are vampires, correct?"

Shocked, all Bonnie and Jeremy could do was nod.

Connie reached over and slapped her on the shoulder. "How the heck did you know that? And are you SERIOUS? Stefan is a VAMPIRE?! Like Edward Cullen kind of vampire?!"

Despite the situation, Jeremy and Bonnie burst into laughter, while Meri smiled, trying to ignore the first half of Connie's question. She was glad that the strangers were laying all their cards on the table and being honest, but she wasn't ready to do that yet. Her best friend was in the car sitting next to her, and even she didn't know. There was no way that she was going to tell complete strangers before she was able to tell Connie.

Bonnie calmed down enough to finally stop laughing as a picture of Stefan glittering in the sunlight finally faded from her brain. Truth be told, it had been her first thought when she found out about vampires too. Despite the years and years of history of them being portrayed somewhat normally, her first instinct had been to go to the most recent example of what a vampire was. He didn't sparkle, but she supposed that his "hero hair" matched the description. She tried to stop herself from breaking into another fit of giggles. "No, not like Edward Cullen. We can explain it some other time. Is this Nancy's house?" She asked, trying to get back to the matter at hand.

Meri nodded, eyeing the house. "Yeah, it's her office and her house. We'll have to go around the back for her house entrance. If she doesn't have an appointment she doesn't answer the front door." She unbuckled her seat belt and exited the car, closing the door softly. She wanted to be as quiet as possible, worried that the neighbors may question their presence outside of Nancy's house so late. It was uncommon for the therapist to have visitors so late in in the day and the last thing she needed was for some nosy neighbor to show up questioning them. Or for them to call the police since she wasn't sure what they were going to find inside.

She didn't wait for the others to exit the car before making her way to the path on the side of the house, but she could hear the other doors closing softly behind her, taking her queue to be quiet. Approaching the gate on the side, she lifted her hand over it to unlatch the hook and was happy that there was no lock on it. Meri knew that occasionally Nancy would put a padlock on it when she wasn't expecting anyone.

Everything was quiet on the block and Meri cringed when the gate made a loud creak as she swung it open. She held the door open behind her so that the others could follow. She could feel a small hand grip the back of her shirt and knew instantly that it was Connie. Connie never was very good in scary situations. She was always the one to vote no when she and Elena would want to watch a scary movie. She was always outnumbered though and would scream bloody murder the entire time.

Though the temperature had dropped since night fell, Meri knew that the chill she felt wasn't from the cold. Something was definitely wrong here, and it was making her hair stand on end. She wondered if the others felt it too.

Making her way over to the back door, and up the three concrete steps, she was upset to find that the light wasn't on. She opened the screen door carefully and knocked softly on the door. When nothing happened, she knocked a little harder and was dismayed when the door cracked open on it's own.

Meri glanced back, making eye contact with Jeremy. "Do you want me to go in first?" He whispered, leaning forward and holding the screen door for her. She shook her head no to him. She was more than capable of being the first to go in. The place was dark, but it looked like there was a light on in the living room when she was able to see the house from the front. She'd only needed confirmation that she SHOULD be walking into the house.

She reached back and unhooked Connie from her shirt. "Stay a little further behind me, okay?" She said, not looking at the frightened girl. If she needed to fight, she wasn't going to do a good job with her hanging onto her shirt.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door opened and stepped all the way inside, into the kitchen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she still had the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"Nancy?" She said, making sure her voice was level and calm. If they were wrong and she'd just broken into this doctors house, she could get into deep trouble.

She could hear one of the others behind her close the door softly with a click and their footsteps, though they were trying to be stealthy, sounded so loud in the silent house. The only thing she could hear other than their feet and their breathing was the low hum of the refrigerator.

Stepping softly around the side of the kitchen table, she inched toward the entrance to the dining room. They'd only been in the living area of Nancy's house a few times before, but she did remember that the living room was just past the dining area. As she stepped past the doorway, she heard a giant crash and she spun, squinting her eyes to see what was going on behind her.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Connie said, her voice a loud whisper as she attempted to pick up the chair she'd walked into. Jeremy leaned over and helped her, picking up the chair and setting it back down so the legs wouldn't scrape against the linoleum floor. He reached out his hand to the girl and she took it happily. Meri didn't miss the worried look Jeremy shot Bonnie and the encouraging smile that Bonnie sent back his way. Despite the situation, Meri thought it was adorable that he was silently asking for approval from his girlfriend to hold another girl's hand.

She realized then that these weren't the bad guys at all.

And she had nothing to fear, at least from these two. Maybe not from Stefan and Damon either.

Klaus, he was a different story.

"Is someone there?!" Came a frightened voice, not from the living room, but from somewhere upstairs.

Meri let out a sigh of relief that she didn't realize that she was holding. It was Nancy's voice. And she was clearly not dead.

"Nancy, it's Meri!" She announced. "Elena's friend." She said, not bothering to be careful anymore as she rushed through the dining room and the brightly lit living room toward the stars. She was happy to note that nothing in the living room was disturbed. There was a drink on the table and a newspaper spread out, it looked like nothing bad had happened.

So why did she have such a bad feeling about this whole situation still?

"Is Elena okay? Please hurry, I need some help!" Nancy shouted, now seeming more calm knowing who was actually in the house.

Meri took the stairs two at a time and noticed only two doors. She tried the first, but it was just a bathroom. She pushed open the second to see what was obviously the master bedroom of the house.

"Help."

Meri turned to the voice beside her and let out a muffled scream.

Nancy seemed to be extended in mid air, pushed against the wall by the door. "Please get me down from here." The woman cried, her eyes red and puffy with tear tracks down her face that showed she'd been crying for some time.

The others entered the room and were just as shocked as she was.

Jeremy tried first, placing his hands under her arms and lifting as if to unhook her from some invisible hooks, but it was no use, Nancy would not budge. He shot a look over at Bonnie. "Is there anything you would be able to do?"

Bonnie shook her head. She'd never seen anything like this before. If the woman were just compelled, she wouldn't be floating there. "I can try, I guess? Connie, can you go find some candles?" She didn't know if she would actually need any but she could see the sweet girl was having some problems digesting what was going on so it was better to get her out of the room and working on a task. "Jer, grab the chair over there and put it underneath her, just in case she does come down, then she won't' have so far to go."

"Oh thank you so much. I don't even know how long I've been stuck here." Nancy said. The woman looked exhausted and drawn. Her gaze shifted to look over at Meri. "You didn't answer my question. Is Elena alright?"

"How did you know that something was wrong with Elena?" Meri said, trying to be vague. The woman had enough to worry about, being stuck in the air. "Do you need some water? I'll go get you some water…" She rambled, heading out of the room as well.

Nancy sighed, pushing her head against the wall and eyeing Bonnie. "There was a woman here. She was the one that stuck me here."

"Was she blonde?" Bonnie asked, stepping back and taking a seat on the side of the bed.

Nancy nodded as she watched Jeremy place the chair under her feet. There was still an inch or so between her feet and the chair, but it would have to do. "Yes, she kept asking about Elena and she took her file along with some others. I keep them locked up in my closet over there, away from my office" She nodded toward the closet door in the far corner of the room since she couldn't seem to use her hands either.

"It's a long story Nancy, but the short of it is that Elena tried to kill herself and ended up in the hospital. When you didn't show up or call back to be her doctor, they assigned a new woman named Mylea, the same woman who did this to you. And now she's missing." Bonnie said, trying to keep the explanation short. She hoped that Damon was having some luck tracking them down on his end.

Nancy hung her head, a few tears dripping onto the seat below her. "I should have listened to her instead of pumping her with medication." She shook her head and looked up to meet Bonnie's eyes again. "You're Bonnie, aren't you?" Assuming the shocked look that Bonnie was giving her she assumed she was correct and shifted her gaze over to Jeremy. "And you're Jeremy."

"How do you know us?" He asked, sitting next to Bonnie on the bed.

"Elena talked about the both of you in some of our sessions, when she would have some of her episodes. She described you both to me. I always thought she just had an overactive imagination. She told me once that she'd always wanted a brother so I thought she made you up. And i thought she was just getting confused with the names Connie and Bonnie even though your descriptions didn't match." Nancy sighed, trying to pull at her arm again wanting to wipe the tears from her face but it felt like she was being weighed down. "She told me people were after her and I just called her paranoid. I was wrong."

Meri entered the room with a glass of water with Connie following behind her carrying a few candles. "Where should I put these?" She asked. Bonnie motioned toward the dresser and got up to help her set them up.

Approaching Nancy, Meri held the water up to her mouth and let her drink a few sips. "How long have you been stuck like this?" She asked when Nancy was finished.

"It's been a few days at least." Nancy said, taking another sip. "I don't really know, the time seemed to fade in and out." She nodded her head. "I'm finished, thank you."

Nancy stared over at Bonnie and Connie hovering over the candles on her desk and was shocked when all the candles let themselves. Yes… Elena hadn't been lying. Bonnie was a witch. And she felt like the worst doctor in the world. But she wouldn't mention all of the other things that Elena had told her. She glanced back over at the boy sitting on her bed. Like how she had cried for days when he had died and she'd had to sedate her. Or when she'd come back into the office a few months later and told her that Jeremy was alive again.

But was she really a bad doctor? How could these things be true?

With everything that had happened in the last few days, she could confirm that everything she'd finally seen with her own eyes had actually been true. Elena had only ever told the truth. And she'd just ignored her.

Bonnie started chanting, words that she didn't understand and everyone's eyes were on her. The fire rose slightly and then went out.

But she was still stuck to the wall.

Bonnie sighed turning her attention back to Nancy. "I was trying to do a spell that would cancel the spell for this, but I don't' think this is an actual spell that's keeping you up there." She huffed. "Could you tell us exactly what happened?"

Nancy strained to remember, everything that had happened seemed so blurry. "She came to the house and told me she was a new doctor that wanted to discuss Elena's treatment. I didn't even know she'd tried to kill herself at that point so I didn't really want to talk to her. As far as I knew, I was the only one in charge of Elena's care. But I let her in anyway to talk. I was going to call Judith after she left. I wasn't going to tell her anything, just find out what she wanted to know. But when she started asking questions, I kept answering them. I didn't want to. I really didn't." She looked at each one of them trying to get her point across. "And then I brought her up here and told her where my files were. She held out her hand and it seemed like I was pushed against the wall and I was pushed UP… but she didn't come anywhere near me."

"So it's Power holding you there." Meri muttered.

"What did you say?" Bonnie asked, her suspicion toward Meri growing. The girl seemed to know a lot more than she was letting on.

Meri sighed. "Supernatural beings have Power, but you would have to have an incredible amount of power to keep something like this up for a few days." She rolled her eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "Okay, so you know how Klaus is very old?" She didn't wait to hear anyone's confirmation. She was sure the two knew all about Kalus. "Well, he has a certain amount of Power because he's very old. I don't' think even he would have enough power to do this so Mylea would have to be something OTHER than a vampire. And something MUCH older."

"Meri." Connie pouted. "How do you know all of this?" They'd been best friends since they were in diapers. Why was she just learning that her best friend had this knowledge?

Meri shot her a sad look. "Can I explain it to you later? I want to tell you before them but we'll have to be alone and right now isn't really the time."

Connie sighed but nodded. She did understand where her friend was coming to but darn she was impatient. Meri never talked about anything like this before and she wondered if she'd ever talked to Elena about it, since she didn't' mind scary things.

"Okay." Bonnie started. Still weirded out by the fact that this younger girl seemed to know more about the supernatural world than she did. "It's great that we know that is the issue, but how do we break her down from there?"

Meri cringed. "Well, I think we would have to find someone more powerful to override it. But I don't know how to do that."

"UGH!" Bonnie shouted, cracking her knuckles in frustration. What good were they here if they couldn't do anything to help? "Are you hungry? We could make you something to eat?" It was really the only thing she could think.

Nancy chuckled, this whole situation was ridiculous. "I'd love to go to the bathroom honestly…" She muttered, knowing it was silly and it was something they wouldn't be able to help her with. "But something light to eat probably wouldn't hurt. I don't remember the last time I ate."

Bonnie nodded, glad for a task. "Okay, I'll go look in your kitchen and-"

Without warning, Nancy pitched forward off the wall and missed the chair completely. Jeremy jumped forward off the bed and was able to catch her the moment before she would have hit the floor head first.

They all shared one concerned look, without saying anything.

If the Power was broken, what had happen to Mylea?

And what did that mean for Elena?

* * *

**So, kind of filler, but there's some important information in here. **

**Sorry for the late update. I'd intended on updating earlier in the week but it's been kind of a shit week. My internet has been in and out because of these oh so fun fires on the west coast. I'll tell you, it's not safe living anywhere. I was always scared of living on Long Island and because of flooding. I think I'd rather drown then burn. Sorry for that morbid thought! **

**The next chapter is the "Season Finale" and then it will be on to another "season" after that. But a short season. Kind of like what we'll get for TVD Season 8. If you haven't hopped on to my facebook page, come over to discuss. What do you think about the short ending? I'm a little sad that it will be only 16 episodes but I'm really happy that they will be finished with it. And hopefully we'll get to see some of our favorite characters hop on over to The Originals (LIKE CAROLINE) **

**Come say hello facebook dot come slash TheEndOfForeverTVD**


	35. Chapter 35

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 35**

**Season 7 "Finale"**

Klaus spun the wheel sharply around the last corner, nearly sending the car onto two wheels as they sped closer to the bridge. Damon tapped the fingers of his good hand on the dashboard impatiently, not caring what kind of damage Klaus did to his precious car, only wanting to get to the bridge faster. It was far, but he could see the tail lights of the car Elena was in ahead, along with Ric's car, a little further in the distance.

Hopefully Elena would be able to convince the crazy woman to at least stop and turn around, or be cautious when approaching the bridge. Elena was usually pretty good at talking people into things, or OUT of things...which was usually the case with him. He had faith that she would be able to, if Mylea actually let her get a word in edgewise. Ric's truck was parked straight across it, there was no way Mylea would be able to maneuver around him without hitting it or going off the bridge.

Thankfully the car wasn't going too fast, Mylea was being cautious with her driving and Damon let out a sigh of relief as he saw the car slow just a little. His hopes were instantly dashed as the car suddenly shot forward as if someone had jammed on the gas and it started to swerve left then right for a moment.

"Elena, what the hell are you doing?" He muttered to no one in particular. It was clear that Mylea hadn't been happy about Elena waking up and didn't like the idea of stopping.

He wasn't going to lie, when he was finally able to catch up to her, he was going to kill her.

Now that he was a human, she was likely to give him a heart attack.

She'd been somewhat safe (as safe as a "spirit," or whatever the hell she was, could be) in the car with them and then she had to go and put herself in danger on purpose. It was a completely "Elena" move, and just like he had to learn how to calm HIMSELF down in the face of danger and think before he acted, she was going to have to learn to keep herself away from trouble.

"If you reach them, just bump them.' Damon growled.

"And scratch your precious car?" Klaus mumbled, sending him a sly glance. His foot was on the gas, giving it as much pressure as possible without smashing it right through the floorboard of the car itself. They were getting closer, but there was no way that they were going to catch them. He knew it, Damon knew it. There was no point in mentioning it though.

With his super human eyesight he could see from where they were, what was going on in the car and it looked like Elena was putting up a good fight. She was leaned as far over the front seat as possible, her blonde hair flowing every which way. As the car continued to swerve this way and that, it was clear to him that Elena was choking the driver.

Beyond them , he could see Alaric and his bride struggling to get out of the car. Ric was clearly paying no mind to the car shooting toward them, but the woman was. She was struggling to push Alaric out of the car but failing. Her hands kept falling off his shoulders as she tried to push, but Alaric would just shrug them right off and continue

Klaus gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles turning white, as if the harder he held the wheel, the faster he would go.

He wondered when exactly it was that he started caring about this silly group of people.

Was it only because he wanted approval from Caroline or was it something else? Was it his daughter that had turned him so soft?

The thought had crossed his mind once or twice in the last day or so, but he was going to have to do something particularly evil later to make up for this.

Damon's ground his teeth in agitation, trying his best to calm himself. They were getting closer to them, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. He wanted to close his eyes and block everything out, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the disaster about to happen.

If Alaric would just move out of the way, it was would be possible that the car itself would be able to protect Jo, but with the way Ric was standing outside the car, his legs just below the door, he was likely to get cut in half, or at the very least, lose his legs, when the car actually slammed into them.

If he was lucky, he'd stay alive long enough to give him some blood.. But there was no way that vampire blood would grow back legs, not without Ric becoming a vampire again.

If he did, they would grow back.

Damon knew ALL about that... first hand.

He shuddered.

He wanted to pray, but after more than a century of ignoring God's existence, he didn't think the man would be likely to listen.

He was concerned so much for his best friend and for Jo… that it was a complete shock to his system to see the car… the car ELENA was in, suddenly launch itself into the air.

His heart stopped.

"No, no, no, no…" He muttered, slamming his fist onto the dash. While the cast protected his hand for the most part this time, he still cringed, the pain vibrating through his hand. It was the least of his worries though as he watched the car flipped over and over and over.

Klaus slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop close to the flipping car before it even landed and Damon was out the door as it made it's final bounce, directly onto the passenger side. The street was eerily silent after such a loud crash, the only sound he could hear now was the rushing of blood in his ears.

Smashing his shoulder into the roof of the car, he placed his feet firmly against the pavement and tried with all his strength to push the car right side up. "Damnit!" He was too weak. He repositioned himself and tried again, feeling beads of sweat break out on his forehead.

Damn being human, what good was he this way?

"Watch out mate." Klaus said from behind him, pushing him slightly out of the way with one hand. Once he was sure that Damon was out of harm's way, he placed a firm grip on the roof, near the window, and pushed the car over. He sent a smirk in Damon's direction but noticed that the other man wasn't paying any attention to him. Behind him, he saw Stefan's SUV pull up behind Damon's car and come to a quick stop. He stepped out of the car, his look one of pure panic, and made to rush toward them, but Klaus held his hand up for him to stay where he was.

He was able to see the way that Stefan's face rippled, saw how out of control he was. If he DID lose control, he'd be able to stop him, but he didn't want it to come to that.

Damon was too distracted to care about Klaus's showboating or about Stefan's arrival.

Elena's head rested unmoving on the bottom portion of the broken window, her blonde hair tinged a bright red, duct tape wrapped around her head, stuck to her hair and around her face. Damon reached his hands out to push some of her loose hair back gently, scared of doing more damage. "Lena?" He whispered quietly, holding his breath and waiting for her answer. There was none from her, but as he stepped closer, he did see the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and he thanked God for small favors.

Though he did wonder, if she died in this body, if she would automatically be sent to her old self. Once again he wished that they'd done more research week's (months!) ago when they'd first learned of traveling.

She'd landed perfectly in the seat, as if she had been wearing a seat belt, though he knew she hadn't been. The other woman was laying on top, her upper body crumpled in Elena's lap. Damon gestured toward Stefan and Klaus. He was going to need help getting the both of them out of the car. He didn't want to open the door and have Elena fall out since she was leaning so heavily on it.

Each of the other men stepped up without argument. "Stefan, can you brace Elena's shoulders through the window?" He asked, checking to see how Stefan was handling the situation. He could tell he was having a hard time with the blood from the way his nostrils flared, but his eyes and face hadn't changed yet, so Damon would have to trust him for the time being. He tried to move the door by himself, but realized quickly that the crash had damaged it and twisted it too much for it to be opened. He sighed, turning to Klaus. "Are you able to get this open?" He asked. He really didn't want to have to go through the other side and drag her out.

Klaus nodded and got to work, Damon taking a step back from the car. He was taking deep breaths, trying his best to remain calm. He knew flying off the handle would do no good. And while he wanted nothing more that to rip that door off it's hinges and pull Elena out, he knew that it would only hurt her more. His hands shook by his sides with the need to do something but he held back until he finally heard the crack of the door opening.

He lunged forward, ready to catch Elena if Stefan slipped but his brother held her firm and even when Klaus pulled the door completely away, Elena didn't move. Damon sighed in relief and nudged his arms as carefully as he could, underneath her knees and slid her out from beneath Mylea's dead weight. As he did, he noticed the odd angle of the woman's neck and realized that it had snapped while the car was flipping.

Not caring one bit about the currently dead woman (though he did regret they couldn't tie her up and torture some answers out of her) he shot a quick look at Klaus. "I think she's dead, but if she is a guardian or whatever the heck Elena was talking about, who knows. She's yours to deal with now."

Klaus nodded, thankful to be in charge of someone (something) that wanted his death. He swooped in and, none too gently, hauled the woman's body from the car, threw her over his shoulder and started walking back toward Damon's camaro.

"Is she breathing?" Stefan asked from over his shoulder, as Damon gently lowered himself to his knees and placed Elena's legs on the ground, lowering her completely so that her back was resting against his chest. He only nodded in response to Stefan's question, not quite sure he trusted his own voice at the moment. Now that he had her laid out, he was able to get a full look at her body from the help of a nearby streetlamp and he winced at all the damage he could see.

He worried at all the damage he COULDN'T see.

He used his index finger to loosen the tape around her mouth and face until he was able to push it down enough that it hung loosely around her neck. He would figure out how to get it off her hair later.

Damon's hand hovered over Elena's bound ones, wanting badly to rip the tape away but seeing what bad shape her arm was in, he decided not to even touch it. It would be best to wait for Jo to take a look at her before he did anything. "Go help Ric get Jo out of the car Stefan." Wanting to get Stefan away from the scene and also needing Jo's expertise. He didn't hear him leave, but he did feel a soft breeze ruffle the back of his hair as Stefan zipped away.

"We'll have matching casts now."

A soft voice said, breaking through the haze that had seemed to cover him for a minute. Startled, he glanced down and was surprised to see Elena's dark blue eyes gazing up at him. They weren't open all the way, but she looked somewhat alert and that was all that mattered. He let out a breathe of relief that he didn't even realize he'd been holding.

"You scared the hell out of me." Damon said with a quick laugh.

Elena blinked up at him, trying to clear her vision but it was no use, he was so close to her face, but he was still just a blur. "Sorry." She said, exhaling then wincing as she realized that she definitely had a few broken ribs along with the arm. Elena attempted to adjust herself to make the pain a little more bearable but let out a gasp instead as it suddenly felt like something was stabbing her in the side.

"Relax, Relax!" Damon shuffled around Elena, trying to get her to stop moving and rest back against his chest, but she wouldn't stop fighting him. "Jo's going to be here in a minute, stop moving until she can look you over okay?" He said, a frown growing across his face as it seemed that since she moved, her breaths seemed more labored and frantic "Guys, we don't have all day!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Glancing back down at Elena he saw that her eyes were wide and she was gasping for breath, her lips, instead of a pale pink from before, were starting to turn a light shade of blue.

It was like she was drowning, even though she hadn't gone into the water.

He searched the darkness in front of him toward his car and saw Klaus closing the trunk. "Klaus!" Before Damon could even blink, Klaus was in front of him, leaning over the other side of Elena, a perplexed look on his face. "Do something!" Damon demanded.

Klaus shushed him. "I think she has a punctured lung." He muttered, trying to listen as best he could. There was definitely something not right with the sound her chest was making. He glanced up at Damon, his eyes serious. "I really can't do anything."

Rage overtook Damon in an instant. "What do you mean you CAN'T do anything? Can't or WON'T? You can damn well give her your blood and HEAL her!" He said, eyes flaring.

Elena was clutching onto his shirt with her bound hands, even though she couldn't breathe, she couldn't let him mouth off to Klaus like that. It was too dangerous. Klaus had been very helpful the last few days, but who knows when that kindness would run out and he would snap? He could kill Damon with the flick of his wrist and this time, there would be no bringing him back from the dead.

Klaus took a breath, letting the comments slide once again. They'd all better let Caroline know what a good boy he'd been after all this was over. He stared Damon down, to tell him just how serious he was about not giving her blood, when the others finally joined them, sans Stefan who remained down by the water. Jo threw her medical bag down on the ground to his right.

"What I mean," He said, his voice as calm as possible. "Is that I cannot give her my blood. If she is, in fact, a Guardian… BORN to destroy me, an Original… what do you think my blood will to do her?" He shook his head, looking down at Elena struggling to breathe. Their eyes locked. "You do understand this, don't you?"

Elena nodded as best she could. Of course she understood, it made perfect sense.

Damon clenched his fist, wanting badly to break something. He looked at Jo, and watched as she dug a scalpel out of her kit and flicked it quickly over the tape wrapped around Elena's wrists. Her broken arm immediately fell off his lap and onto the pavement but she didn't seem to notice as she still struggled to breathe. Without a word, Jo pushed up the side of Elena's bloodstained scrubs and grimaced, seeing the dark purple shade growing against her clearly shattered ribs. She shook her head, took a deep breath and plunged the scalpel into Elena's side.

Wincing, Damon turned away, he couldn't bear to watch the rest of what Jo was doing. He met Ric's eyes, who was knelt down next to him. Ric reached out and clutched Damon's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. He'd seen this look in Damon's eyes before, pure terror, a number of years ago. He was just a ghost in a warehouse, as his best friend clutched onto his own dead body. They'd both realized what it meant at the same time.

Elena's death.

He hadn't been able to be there for his friend then, but he was glad he could be there for his friend now.

Damon felt Elena jerk in his arms and he glanced down, scared, but she was now taking a large normal breath. Thinking it was over, he let his gaze stray from Elena to Jo, but noticed that the tube she'd inserted into Elena's side was gushing blood onto the pavement.

Knowing the situation wasn't the best, Elena was still happy to be able to catch enough breath to finally speak again. Elena turned her head to face Jo. "Glad… you're okay." She forced out softly.

Jo laughed, wiping at the tears that were suddenly falling down her cheeks. "Thanks to you. You brave … stupid girl." She reached out and cupped her hand on Elena's thin face. This wasn't the face she knew, not the one she was used to, but it didn't matter.

She pulled her hand away as Ric pushed himself up from where he was next to Damon, in order to join her on the other side of Elena. Klaus moved away to stand by the wrecked car, not sure if he should be involved in the intimate moment.

Damon brushed Elena's hair out of her face and behind her ear gently, careful not to touch the still bleeding cut above her eyebrow, and guided her to look at him.

She squinted up at him, upset that she still wasn't able to make out his beautiful face. "Love… you."

He swore he wouldn't do it, but the tears came anyway, making his own vision blur. "I love you too Elena." Damon wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. He'd learned his lesson just a few days ago when he hadn't said it back to her. It was something he'd regretted since the moment her eyes had closed.

"You're going to be fine." He muttered, using the pad of his thumb to wipe away some of the blood from her cheek. "You're just not allowed near cars anymore."

Elena let out a strangled laugh that turned quickly into an ugly gurgle as blood rushed out of her mouth.

Cringing at the sight of the blood that now stained her lips a bright red (something that he had thought sexy once upon a time) he glanced up and over at Jo for a little help. She met his eyes and shook her head. "We're not going to be able to get her to the hospital in time, even if one of you were able to speed her over there."

"I'm sorry." Elena breathed out, her hand seeking out his. He adjusted himself and laced his fingers through hers. "It was the right thing… to do."

Damon wanted to argue with her but he knew there was no point. He lifted his head and searched for his brother, finally seeing him standing, hunched over, by the water. "Stef, do you think you can control yourself long enough to give her some blood?" Damon didn't bother to raise his voice, he knew Stefan was able to hear him. He watched as his brother's shoulders shuddered and then stiffened, before he turned back toward them. He was holding himself together, barely. As Stefan approached, Damon could see the red tint in his eyes, from where he sat on the ground, but he hadn't gone all out vampy-face yet so he had some hope at least.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Ric whispered under his breath, not sure if he wanted Stefan anywhere near Elena. It was clear that Stefan wasn't handling this well at all and the last thing they all needed was him attacking. But it's not like they had much of a choice, Klaus's refusal, though understood, left them with only one option.

At least Klaus was still standing nearby in case things went wrong. He was the only one there that would be able to subdue Stefan if things got out of hand.

Damon shook his head. "It's my ONLY idea. I'm useless." He muttered staring down at Elena not knowing what else to do. There was nothing he COULD do except watch her bleed out on the road that she had cheated death on so many times before in the past.

Stefan held his breath as he dropped down next to his brother, doing the very best he could not to breathe in how amazing all the spilled blood smelled. He hadn't eaten in what felt like decades, since all of this started just a few days ago, and he was only realizing it just now. His nostrils flared of their own accord and his teeth elongated.

He struggled for control of himself. God this was ELENA he was thinking about as a meal.

A meal that was being horribly wasted as it gushed onto the ground… that ripper voice inside his head said to him.

Before he could do anything he would regret, he felt two strong hands come down on his shoulders, holding him locked into place just as he was about to lunge forward. "Now Stefan… be a good vampire and bite your wrist and give it to Elena." Klaus said, his voice slightly mocking.

But that was a good thing, because the mocking was what ripper Stefan was used to. That TONE was one that he was familiar with, one that he respected once upon a time. Without thinking too much about it, Stefan bit hard into his wrist, tearing off a chunk of it and spitting out the skin next to him on the ground, then held his wrist over Elena's face.

Damon, unafraid, grabbed his brother's wrist and guided it closer to Elena's parted lips as she stared up at him, her eyes blank. She wasn't swallowing. Or blinking. "Elena." He said through clenched teeth. He'd only taken his eyes off of her for one moment. Had she already slipped away from him?

"God DAMNIT Elena, DRINK!" He said, using his arm under her shoulders to shake her. Her eyes just stared straight up, glazed over. He was about to panic before he saw Jo lean forward.

Without having to be told to, Jo reached over and massaged Elena's throat, trying to relax it and help her swallow She could feel the reflex happening below her fingertips. This might just work, she thought to herself. This group crazy group effort. IF this Elena didn't have any kind of adverse reaction to vampire blood.

But it seemed as if she didn't because not only did Elean close her eyes, but she lifted her good hand to take a grip of Stefan's and push it closer to her mouth as she took large gulps.

Damon let go of Stefan's hand and sat back a little, glad to see Elena responding just fine to the blood. He took a look down at her arm and noticed that the bones were locking back into place.

Well, he thought… there goes the matching cast's idea, wishing that he too could take some blood and heal his own hand.

He glanced up at Jo, lifting an eyebrow and nodding down to the tube. "You might want to take that out or else she's going to heal around it and it will be a real bitch to get out later."

He knew that from experience too.

Startled, Jo looked down and sure enough, the wound WAS closing, healing right over the plastic. She yanked at it, and though it was a little difficult, was able to get it out without having to use the scalpel. She watched in amazement as the wound closed up, the purple skin around it healing and the broken ribs underneath snapping back together like a ripple under the now pale unblemished skin. Jo reached out and pulled down the shirt.

Stefan groaned. "That's enough." He said, trying to pull his arm away from Elena. She was taking much more than she needed he could tell, and he suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. But she held firm, suddenly stronger than him and nearly growled, digging her fingernails into his flesh.

"Elena, you can stop now." Damon said, growing a little concerned. He too reached out and tried to unlatch her from Stefan's arm but he had no luck either.

Elena's eyes popped open, glowing gold and locked onto Damon's shocked ones as she took another greedy gulp from Stefan's arm. "Elena…?" Damon asked again, not quite sure if this was his Elena he was talking to.

Their gazes stayed locked until suddenly the gold dimmed and turned back to her regular dark blue and she seemed to become more aware of who she was and what was going on. She let Stefan's arm drop from her mouth and she shot up into a sitting position, wiping the at the blood dripping from her mouth with her sleeve. She turned quickly toward Stefan. "Oh my God are you okay?" She asked, horrified at what she'd been doing.

Stefan rolled his eyes, leaning back onto the pavement to catch his breath. "You almost died, AGAIN... and you're asking me if I'm okay?" He said, following with a quick laugh. The beast was tamed for now. He was too weak for the ripper to do anything. She'd really taken a lot of blood from him…

Elena laughed, scratching her head. "Yeah, I guess that did sound a little stupid. I'm sorry either way."

She spun again, this time toward Damon and nearly jumped at him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm so sorry." She mumbled, her lips grazing his collarbone.

Damon pulled her as close as possible, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Just don't do it again." He muttered into her hair. He'd save the lectures and speeches for later. This mess was finally over and she was in his arms and that's all he cared about right now. "Seriously, don't. I don't know how much this human heart can take."

Elena pulled back, tears in her eyes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. Without taking her arms off of Damon, she turned around to look at everyone sitting on the ground. "Thank you for coming for me guys." She said, a little blush tinting her cheeks. "Can we please go home now?"

They all laughed, wiping at their faces, the previously sad tears having turned into happy ones. Ric stood up and leaned over to also plant a kiss on her head. "Yeah, let's go home." He said, reaching over and patting Damon on the shoulder.

Without losing contact with her, Damon swooped her up in his arms and carried her over to Stefan's SUV, not wanting to have her in the same car with Mylea's body, just in case. He was sure that Klaus would be able to handle her if she DID somehow wake up. As he approached the back door, Elena reached out and opened it so that they could slip inside without him having to put her down. He settled into the back, placing her comfortably in his own lap as they watched Stefan and Klaus push Mylea's car into the river below.

"Is it over?" Elena asked, as she watched the car sink.

Damon didn't want to make any promises, they still knew nothing about the woman or if she would wake up… or if other guardian's would come after Elena just as Mylea had. As long as Elena was in this body, she was going to be sought after.

He sighed.

That was nothing new. They'd already dealt with that, they'd been dealing with it for years where Elena was concerned.

But for now, he didn't want to ruin her good mood, so he nodded. "It's over." He said, pulling her even closer.

She knew it was a lie, but she didn't care. It was exactly what she needed to hear at the moment and Damon knew it.

Stefan jumped into the front seat and turned the car on before even shutting the door.

"Are you alright to drive?" Elena asked.

Stefan laughed. "I"m fine Elena, I think I can manage a few miles to the house before I collapse." He said, meeting her eyes through in the mirror. He took a peek at Damon who now had HIS head buried in Elena's shoulder. He looked exhausted, with bluish bags under his eyes, but he finally looked happy. Stefan smiled as he put the car in reverse. Maybe now they would be able to all get a good night's rest.

And tomorrow, maybe they would all finally be able to celebrate the happy couples engagement.

Elena sighed contently as she watched the trees pass them by in the night. She was so tired but at the same time she felt wired from the blood she'd taken from Stefan. The last time she'd taken blood willingly as a human had been when she'd stabbed herself trying to trick Elijah at the cabin and she didn't remember it having tasted so good or going out of control when drinking it. She wondered if it had anything to do with her previous vampire status or if it was some kind of Guardian power.

She'd lost herself there for a minute, while drinking his blood and knew if she hadn't locked eyes with Damon that she would have sucked Stefan dry without a second thought.

Elena decided to dismiss the thought. They would do some research tomorrow, after she'd gotten to see everyone. She didn't want to think about it.

The boarding house finally came into view and Elena let out a sigh of relief. After everything, she was finally home.

Damon cursed into Elena's hair. Every single light was on. "Doesn't blondie know that electricity costs money?" He said, rolling his eyes.

Stefan shook his head and met his brother's eyes through the mirror. "After all of this, you're going to worry about your electric bill? Really?"

Laughing, Elena tried to adjust herself to get off of Damon's lap so it would be easier to exit the car, but he only held her tighter and shook his head. Elena shrugged, not minding being held for longer. She would ignore everything else that there was to do and to think about until tomorrow.

Like how if she hopped back into her own body now, she would be a vampire, and Damon would want to be human. Something they'd argued about in the past. With no way to go get that other cure, what would that do to their relationship?

And if she went back to her old body, what would happen to the other Elena? Would she go back to being herself? A crazy girl with some psychic guardian powers? And what would become of her family? Would the girl just die like she'd intended?

If she chose to stay in this body...would she have to go live with Aunt Judith and Margaret? Pretend to be friends with people she didn't know? Go back to high school?

She shuddered at the thought.

So many things to think about.

But not tonight. Tonight it was time for a reunion. A celebration. They'd beaten the odds... barely. And she FINALLY felt good, the haze from the medication was gone and she was able to think clearly. The feeling of nausea was gone.

And oh God… she couldn't wait to take a shower. A private shower with no one guarding over her and watching her like a hawk.

Well… maybe she'd let Damon in with her.

Stefan let the SUV roll to a stop as he parked behind Matt's truck. "Guess that answers the question on where everyone is." He said, taking note of all the cars. "Doesn't explain why no one is answer their phone though." Parking the car, he didn't waste time pulling the keys from the ignition and hopping out. He watched as Ric's car pulled up behind him and Damon's car pulled up in the rear.

He poked his head back into the car, seeing that Damon hadn't moved from his spot. "Uh… " He smirked, seeing the pair wrapped up in each other. "You need a little help?"

Damon groaned, not happy with being interrupted and pulled away from Elena. "Nah, I got this brother. You go make sure that Klaus didn't scratch my car." He said, sending a lopsided grin Stefan's way. Stefan only rolled his eyes and walked away laughing, realizing that his brother wanted a little alone time before everyone tried to steal Elena away.

Elena laughed, pushing Damon slightly away from her. "Damonnn…" She wined softly, "I want to go take a shower. I'm a mess." She said, pouting.

"Only if you let me come with you." He said, kissing her on the forehead and reluctantly letting go of her to push the door open.

She grinned at his response. "As if there is ever any other way to take a shower…" She said, her eyes turning a dark shade of blue to show she was MORE than interested in just a shower. It had been a long few days… and they had yet to celebrate their engagement to each other.

Most people would probably want to shower alone, being covered in blood. But she knew that it was nothing Damon hadn't seen before. And she doubted he would let her out of sight long enough to take a shower on her own.

She hopped off his lap and into the driveway, glancing over to see what the others were doing. They all stood, gathered around Damon's trunk, probably thinking about what to do with Mylea's body. She did feel bad about killing the woman, but she wouldn't take it back. It hadn't been her intention at all, she'd just wanted to save her friends. And she didn't regret it one bit. The alternative was too horrible to even think about.

And really, who would have known that the strange woman would die from just a car accident?

Damon got out of the car behind her, slamming the door shut and putting his good hand on the small of her back. She shivered at the contact, but it had nothing to do with her being cold. Damon, however, misunderstood. "Where did you supernaturally leave my favorite jacket?" He asked, trying to tease her to get her mind off the fact that they were carting around a dead body.

Elena glanced down at herself, seeing that she was in her scrubs. Of course she was, she thought, shaking her head. She'd been physically wearing the scrubs since she was admitted to the hospital. She met his gaze, a light blush spreading across her cheeks. "Um, I guess we'll have to wait until I fall asleep to see if I pop back up wearing it?"

Damon laughed, obviously not caring about the jacket. It didn't have much sentimental value as the ORIGINAL one he bought of it, that had blown up along with his car and the grill. "You'll just have to buy me a new one." He said, using his pointer finger to tap her lightly on the nose. He guided her toward the front door, leaving the others to figure out what to do with Mylea. Hopefully they would take her body into the basement and lock it up. Lord only knows if she would wake up like Elijah once had. This time they would be prepared.

As they stepped up the steps to the main entrance they were shocked when the door swung open on it's own.

"Oh my GOD! I've been waiting FOREVER for you guys to get home." The man in the doorway said, leaning against the side of it and crossing his arms.

Damon swiftly moved in front of Elena, glaring at the figure standing in front of them.

Pleased brown eyes moved from looking at Damon, to looking past him, at Elena. His eyebrows raised in curiosity and he stepped closer. Damon held his ground against the psycho in his house, reaching back to hold onto Elena's hand. "Why Damon… you got a new girlfriend? Already? How long have I been gone? THAT will be interesting later…" He tilted his head to the side to get a better look at Elena and smiled brightly as Damon tried, unsuccessfully, to block her from his view. "So pretty. So different than your usual type!"

The man leaned even closer, holding out a hand.

"It's SO nice to meet you, young lady. My name is Kai."

* * *

**Once again, sorry for the wait as usual. Between road trips, tons of work and doctor visits, this one did not want to be written. **

**I feel like it was rushed and didn't have a lot of emotion in it, but I wanted to get out out for you guys. I just feel like it's lacking. I hope you enjoyed it though. AND I hope you enjoy seeing our "unwelcome guest!"**

**Thought it was Tyler didn't you? Or did you completely forget about the trouble in the boarding house since it's been so long? **

**Come visit and say hello on facebook **

**Facebook dot com slash TheEndOfForeverTVD**

**On a side note... East Coast road trips are much more fun then West Coast road trips. I think I like driving on flat land better than the side of mountains. **

**Remember... reviews are love! And constructive criticism is always welcome.**


	36. Chapter 36

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 36**

Before Damon could even come up with something to say to make Kai step away, or even blink for that matter, Klaus had Kai slammed up against the outside wall of the house, his feet dangling in mid air. "What have you done with my daughter?"

Kai rolled his eyes and shot him a quick smile, seemingly un-bothered by the fact that he was being choked. "I assume you mean the little baby? Huh, so weird. I totally thought that was my niece!" He shot a sly smile over Klaus's shoulder and winked at his sister. When Alaric started to step forward in anger, Kai rolled his eyes again. "Oh calm down, I know I don't have the BEST track record with my family members, but I would TOTALLY not hurt my niece. Everyone is safely sleeping inside. I figured they needed a nap until the rest of the party arrived since I didn't want to tell my story more than once."

Then he started whistling.

Glad that Kai was slightly distracted, as obnoxious as he was, Damon slipped his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to Elena behind his back. "Text Bonnie, tell her to stay away." He whispered behind him. He could feel the phone slide from his grasp, and confident that she was able to hear him, turned his attention back to Kai.

Elena stepped further behind Damon's back, sliding out of view from Kai, happy that her body was so much smaller than her normal one. Usually she and Damon were about the same height, but this Elena was petite and barely came up to Damon's shoulder blades. She scrolled through the contacts on his phone until she reached the end, where she recalled that he had Bonnie listed under "Witchy." Surprised when she couldn't seem to find that name in his address book, she scrolled up to the top again and smiled when she saw the name "Bon-Bon" listed right under "Blondie" and "Barbie Klaus." She suppressed a giggle. It was cute that he'd updated her in his phone book and if they made it through the night alive she was definitely going to have to remember to tease him about it.

She was also going to ask him why he still had Rebekah in there.

Not that she was the jealous type or anything. But she knew that he would probably get a little flustered and she always thought that was adorable.

Focusing back on the task at hand, she looked down at the phone._ Found Elena. Don't come to the boarding house, Kai's here. Will text when safe. _She quickly typed and hit send. When she knew it went through, she turned the phone on silent just in case Bonnie replied and then slipped the phone back into Damon's back pocket. He reached behind him again and she grabbed his hand to give a little squeeze, then stepped out from behind him to focus her attention back on Kai.

Klaus lowered the unknown man back to the ground, unsure if he really should or not. He glanced over his shoulder at Damon. "Care for me to get rid of this problem?" He asked.

Damon was about to give his approval when Elena gently placed her small hand on his shoulder. "We don't know what he's done to the others." She reminded him softly. He sighed. Of course. This was one of the many reasons he needed Elena. She was his voice of reason. The little angel voice on his shoulder telling him not to do all the things he wanted to do.

Like kill people.

He could hear footsteps behind him as the others gathered around. "Kai, What do you want?" Jo said, her voice sounded tired. They'd all had way too much excitement for one day.

Kai straightened his shirt and shot another crazy smile at Klaus before turning his attention to his sister. "I see it really hasn't been long then, you're only slightly showing! Unless you did have the kid already and you just haven't lost the weight?" At her glare he laughed lightheartedly waving his hand in the air. "Nevermind. Let's all go inside and wake everyone up!" He moved to the side of the door and motioned for them all to go in with his hand. "After you!"

Klaus glared at him from the corner of his eye, but eager to see that both Hope and Caroline were okay, he sped past him into the house. The others were a little more cautious as they passed him, not completely comfortable with having their backs to him. Damon tugged on Elena's hand and squeezed it, then threw his other hand around her shoulder as Kai stared at him with a weird smile on his face. As they passed, Kai clapped his hands. "This is going to be SO funny." He laughed, following them in.

As they reached the main sitting room, they Klaus was already leaning over the carrier and picking a quiet Hope up. He breathed a sigh of relief. "She really is just sleeping then?" He noticed, brushing a finger across her cheek.

They all looked around at the others, all sat up in different spots around the room as if they'd been strangely positioned like dolls.

Kai shrugged, waving his hand toward them and then leaning against the wall by the fireplace. "Yeah, I kind of needed the house to be quiet when I came back. I didn't want anyone in the house to be caught up in anything." His voice had taken on an oddly serious tone, something so completely unlike him that it made the others nervous. He looked over everyone that was slowly stretching and waking up, focusing on Lily.

Jo eyed him wearily. It was so unlike her brother that she was almost suspicious. But he HAD been different since he'd received Lukes power so maybe, just maybe, he wasn't a bad guy anymore and had a heart. He had seemed happy for her when he told her about the pregnancy a few weeks earlier, so maybe he had changed.

"I'm a little confused." Damon said, stepping forward, not happy that Kai's attention was placed on his mother. "I thought we left you back in the prison world. How did you get back?"

"Oh, that was the easy part, after Lily sent the ascendant back to us. That was very nice of you by the way." He said, smiling as Lily stared at him confused.

Enzo growled next to her, just waking up himself. "I thought you were giving up on that." He said angrily.

Lily shook her head. "I … I did! I thought we destroyed it!" She reached her hand out to hold his. "I swear to you, I had no idea."

"You probably burned it? Am I right?" Lily nodded. "Yeah, you probably didn't know this but that's how you send it back to where it's from. ANYWAY-" Kai said, rolling his eyes at the couple on the floor. "Since I knew you guys hadn't meant to leave me there, despite Bonnie going all PSYCHO on me - which I totally deserved..." He stopped and looked around. "Where IS Bonnie anyway?"

"Haven't seen her." Damon said. "How did you know we didn't want to leave you there?"

Kai laughed, pushing himself away from the wall. "Well, considering you left another really important thing behind, I figured you didn't mean to leave quite yet. And I ACTUALLY got you a present, a peace offering, since I knew you wanted it so much. Though…. I see that you don't really need it anymore since you're already human somehow." He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a tiny red vile, flipping it up into the air. "So, What should I do with this now?"

Damon's heart nearly stopped as he watched the vile with the cure be flipped into the air so carelessly. "I'm sure we can find something to do with it. There are plenty of other vampires who might want to take it." He tried with everything in him to not show how much he wanted it. He didn't want to give Kai the upper hand in this situation.

"Yes!" Lily said, pushing herself gently up from the floor. "Please. I don't know who you are, but I would love that for myself. I'm so tired of being a ripper." She said, shooting a small glance at Damon. She saw him stiffen from his spot across the room and she raised an eyebrow at him hoping that Kai didn't notice. Hoping against all hope that Damon would understand that she wasn't telling the truth to whoever this man was and that she was actually trying to get it for Elena. She saw his shoulders relax and let out a sigh.

Kai shrugged and tossed it over to her and she quickly caught it and held it protectively against her chest, glad that she could at least be some use to her son.

"I actually came here to warn you." Kai said, still not taking his eyes from Lily. "Your friends aren't happy at all, that you left them there. That's why I put everyone in the house to sleep when we came back. I didn't want to turn this into world war three." He glanced around the room, an eyebrow raised. "That hasn't happened yet right? I'm a little out of the loop."

Damon rolled his eyes. "No, not yet. Just get to the point."

Kai shrugged, glancing over at his sister. "The heretics, and they are CRAZY bunch, have given me a free pass because I helped them get out of the prison world. But they are going to go after the Gemini coven for putting them there in the first place, so I suggest you hide for a little bit until we can figure out how to get rid of them. We have a little time though, because they were talking gibberish about how they first planned to go after another group that were the ones to be the whistleblowers in the first place." He shook his head. "I'm not really sure who those people were but I know the Gemini coven doesn't have the power to put someone in a prison world all by themselves. That's why they needed that Bennett witch to help with me." He explained, looked around the room again.. "Are you SURE you don't know where Bonnie is?"

"She's out on vacation with her boyfriend, not that it's any of your business. Why? Do you have a crush on her?" Caroline finally said, wiping the sleep from her eyes and getting up from her spot on the couch. She was glad to see Klaus holding a fidgeting Hope in his arms and he sent her a small smile as if to say that the baby was alright. She felt like a complete failure for not taking care of her and she was so happy that Klaus wasn't mad at her. After making sure that she was alright, she made her way over to a still sleeping Matt, who was propped up in one of the arm chairs, and tried to make sure that he was okay. Both he and Sarah were still snoozing away and she hoped that whatever spell Kai had put on them was okay for humans.

The smile dropped from Kai's face and he actually looked genuinely upset. "Uh, no. Just wondering." He muttered, looking at the floor.

Damon laughed, even though he knew he shouldn't be provoking Kai, especially since he was a human, it was just too funny. "You do. You really do have a crush on her even though you tried to kill her a dozen times!"

Kai looked hurt. "You know I tried to make up for that after I started having normal feelings. And I do understand why she stabbed me the last time I saw her and I wanted to tell her that it was okay and that I won't hold it against her."

"I'll give her the message." Damon said, smirking. Elena tugged on his shirt just a slight bit, still hiding behind him a little as to not draw attention to herself. He sighed. "I promise."

Suddenly, Kai's smile came back and he clapped his hands, looking behind Damon. "Oh man, this was kind of the part that I was waiting for."

Confused, as he wasn't looking at Elena, Damon spun around to see where Kai was staring.

And his eyes met a very confused brown.

"Damon?"

"Elena?" He choked.

Her hair was wet as if she had just come out of the shower and she was holding one of his towels in her hands, wearing one of his black button down shirts. Everyone in the room gasped, and the hand that was gripping his, squeezed tight.

The Elena in front of him didn't move, but her gaze slowly shifted from his, to the girl beside him.

"Who's she?"

* * *

**Man, it's been a hell of a ride. **

**There are still a few chapters left, and I'm really sorry for bailing out on you guys. I have this horrible problem where I can't write when I'm not alone and it has to be silent and I haven't been alone in forever. **

**Right now, I'm back in New York for a few weeks, so I'm happy to say I'll be watching the finale with a friend of mine, very excited about it. **

**What are you guys thinking of this season? I think it's funny that Kai came back! **

**Also, I haven't seen many episodes, but when I watched this week's, I thought the scene in the kitchen with Bonnie and Caroline (with the wedding planner binders, was VERY similar to mine, don't you think?)**

**Anyway. My friend challenged me to finish this before the finale, so, lets see if this can be done! **


	37. Chapter 37

**The End Of Forever**

**Chapter 37**

No one in the room said a word, with all their mouths hung open in surprise, it was a little difficult. It was finally Stefan who was smart enough to break the silence. "Elena… Come with me for a minute, we have to talk." He hesitantly stepped up toward her and tried to guide her out of the room but she attempted to hang back, shifting her gaze from the blond behind Damon, to Damon himself a few times. At Stefan's last firm tug, she finally relented, her gaze dropping to the floor as she lets him take her away.

"Oh darnit." Kai sighed. "I was really wondering how that would work out."

Damon turned back around, unclasping his hand from the girl that was at his side. He heard her let out a little gasp, but he wasn't interesting in touching the imposter at the moment, afraid he might do something he would regret. "She was with you the whole time?" He asked, bewildered. He was hurt and he felt a little used at the moment. If that was Elena, then who the hell was this blond that they'd risked themselves to save? If she was a so called guardian, then had she been playing them the whole time to get close to them, and to Klaus?

Had he really proposed to the wrong girl and not noticed?

It wouldn't have been the first time that he hadn't realized it wasn't her for weeks on end, and that was a frustrating thought. There had been NO indication that there was anything wrong with her. If anything he should have been concerned when she hadn't had any of her memories, then he could understand. But after she'd gotten them back, she'd spoken of each one to him, as they came back to her. So the whole thing just didn't make any sense. Unless her guardian powers allowed her to steal them straight from Elena somehow.

In which case, he didn't care if he was human and he didn't care who would try to stop him. He would kill her.

Kai shook his head, a look of amusement still on his face. "She turned up a few days after you guys left. I assume something went wrong with the spell. She was all wet and cold and didn't really know where she was. Totally confused. So I helped her and the heretics were super happy for another human to munch on. They would feed on us until we died and came back. Being there wasn't exactly the best time of our lives, but we made due. She was just really excited that we might be able to get back." He smiled his crazy grin at Damon. "To you." His creepy gaze ended up on the blonde behind Damon. "Their love was EPIC, trust me. I watched him pine over this girl for MONTHS when he was in the other prison world. Has he ever told you about that? Did he ever TELL you about his other girlfriend?"

He moved toward the blonde, and mockingly put on a sad face. "I see you've gotten caught up in some sort of mess with them, since you're covered in blood and everything. I don't know what's going on right now, but you should probably come with me. I'm going to go visit my family in Oregon and let them know about the trouble heading there way, if they'll even listen to me. Are you up for a little road trip." The look on his face seemed pleased, as if he actually thought she would be interested in going away with a stranger.

Damon stepped in front of the girl. "She's not going anywhere with you." And he wouldn't let her leave even if she wanted to. He had some questions for her.

Kai held up his hands in surrender. "Totally fine. If you are so into her, you are by all means allowed to have her. I'm outta here." He stepped away and, never turning his back towards the others in the room, walked toward the exit. "I will try to get the other Gemini's to help with the Heretics, so I'll be back soon. I was just SO interested in seeing your and Elena's reunion. But I can see you all have a lot to talk about so I'll be on my way. Let Elena know that she has my beeper number and if she ever needs ANYTHING, to beep me right away! We had a lot of bonding time together, so if things don't work out with you guys, I would be MORE than happy to be her shoulder to cry on."

Before exiting, he took one last look at Lily. "I suggest you don't take that cure until the Heretics are finished being dealt with, and go into hiding. It would be way too easy for them to kill you if you were human." His mouth turned up into a grin. "Ta ta for now!" He said, swiftly exiting the house.

Damon let out a breath, glad the lunatic was gone, and turned to the person behind him. A person he didn't know. 'Explain." He said, his ice blue eyes turning cold toward her.

The way her eyes grew huge was comical and he almost laughed at her. Almost. He didn't take too kindly to being tricked. The girl started to back away from him, and from the others, holding her hands up as if in surrender. "Damon, I swear, I don't know anything. I AM Elena. YOUR Elena!"

He advanced on her quickly and took her petite arm in his good hand. "Oh are you? Because it sure looks like the REAL Elena just left the room."

Caroline quickly crossed in front of Damon, prying him off of the scared girl. "Now listen, let's hear the whole story before anything gets out of control okay? I'm sure there is a perfectly good explanation as to what's going on and you flying off the handle isn't going to help anything." Damon backed up understanding the request was more like a demand. He didn't like the fact that Caroline was now stronger then him and huffed as he made his way over to the drink cart. Screw having human tolerance, he needed a goddamn drink after the day he'd had.

DAYS he'd had.

Caroline didn't realize that she was dealing with a supernatural being, but he'd let her figure that out herself. Or he would let Klaus deal with her when she didn't get anywhere with her questioning. Then they'd have to do things the hard way.

The fun way.

God, he'd been itching to torture someone for days.

Not that he wanted to torture this seemingly little fragile girl, but if she'd intentionally fucked with his brain and had kept Elena away from him for weeks, it didn't matter WHAT she looked like, he would come up with something creative.

Happy that Damon was backing off, Caroline turned to the girl, placing both hands on her shoulders. She was obviously scared and she didn't want to worsen the situation so that the girl wouldn't talk to them. "You can tell us the truth. I swear that we won't hurt you. You could have just come to us and asked for help if you needed it, magic aside."

She wanted to try the honest route first.

The girl rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yeah, right. When in the history of time has that ever worked out?"

Caroline's gaze shot over to Damon at the bar, who was already finishing his first glass of bourbon. "Well, she seems to know us pretty well." She said.

He slammed the empty glass down on the table. "Oh, like it's that difficult to figure us out. Who the hell knows what kind of magic has been used to know all of us. And if Elena has been stuck there this entire time, is that your fault or some other trick of magic?" He went to advance on the girl again, despite the fact that Caroline was in the way. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

Caroline's eyebrows crinkled. "Magic?"

"Damon calm down," Stefan interrupted, dragging the other Elena into the room behind him. Her expression was less confused now, but she still stared at Damon with wide, brown unsure eyes. "Is Kai gone?"

Klaus placed Hope in the carrier, tapped her on the nose and then quickly zipped outside, coming back in a few seconds later. "He's not on the property, so I would assume no."

"Oh thank GOD that is over." The girl next to Stefan said, rolling her shoulders, and then straightening them so that she was at full height. She didn't look like a meek girl anymore, she looked like a confident woman. "That guy is a psycho. And it is REALLY exhausting trying to pretend to be you." She said, staring at the blonde.

Damon glared at her, realizing his mistake. "Katherine?" He slapped his head. "Ugh, I'm an idiot."

Katherine's lips lifted into a smirk. "You should be thanking me. Before I showed up he was really intent on revenge. He was going to make it back, destroy his sister's wedding and put Elena to sleep until Bonnie died. It was quite a decent revenge plan, if I do say so myself. But when he realised that your 'Poor poor Elena'" she lifted her fingers up into air quotes "got stuck too, he thought you guys DIDN'T leave him there on purpose." She hopped down the stairs and met Damon at the bar, pouring herself a drink, then glanced over to Elena. "I assume there's been a lot of drama on this end too. I put your body in Damon's wardrobe, sorry. I didn't need Kai finding it and realizing what happened." She said, taking a sip of her drink.

Damon moved from his spot next to her, disgusted with himself for not figuring it out right away, and he made his way over to the blonde Elena and grasped her hand gently. "I'm so sorry I even questioned you."

She laughed softly and squeezed his hand, glad that Katherine hadn't drawn it out longer than she needed to. She could have been in some serious trouble if Katherine hadn't been honest. "It's okay. Even I was confused." She recalled the last time that Katherine paraded around in her body and that hadn't ended well at all.

"How are you even here? Bonnie said you got dragged into hell the last time she saw you." Stefan asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the door frame. He was glad that things worked out in their favor and she didn't aid Kai in his plan, but he still didn't trust her.

She shrugged pouring herself another drink. "The other side collapsed but there are a trillion things you do not know about death, or the afterlife, or other places that you really aren't prepared to know about. Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."

Klaus clapped his hands together, everyone's attention turned toward him. "So glad to see that you are back and HUMAN still." He said, a devilish grin pasted across his face.

Katherine sighed, quickly downing another drink and carefully placing it down on the bar before responding. "Listen Klaus, being where I was BEFORE and then being a human bloodbag to those psychos in the prison world, I can't bring myself to care WHAT you have planned for me. If you want my blood and want to take it GENTLY, like in a hospital setting with a needle, I'm all for it. As long as I have your protection, you have a deal."

Her voice was strong, as usual, Elena noticed. But her expression clearly wasn't. Elena didn't know what kind of horror she'd been through in whatever world she was in, but she knew what it was like being munched on by a couple of vampires and it wasn't ever fun. She also knew what it was like to be worried about Klaus's intentions. And she couldn't help wanting to feel sorry for the girl that shared her face. She often wondered what she would have turned out like if she hadn't had all her friends around to support her and she had to be on her own like Katherine was.

Yes, Katherine had done unspeakable harm, to EVERYONE, but was it really so crazy once you'd thought about all the things the woman had been through on her own for 500 plus years?

She was about to speak up when, to her surprise, Caroline did it for her. "He isn't interested in making hybrids anymore, so that isn't necessary." She said, picking up Hope from her carrier and confidently striding over to Klaus to stand by his side "He doesn't need that fake family anymore, he already has this one."

Klaus looked down at her, startled. "I do?"

She slapped him on his shoulder with her free hand. "Of course you do, that's what I told you earlier. My decision didn't change."

He grinned happily at her, surprised by the warm feelings that were stirring in his chest at seeing her hold his daughter. He really did have a family now. How strange was that? "Katherine, you're free to do whatever you want, I really don't care in the slightest."

Katherine's eyebrows shot up in surprise, trying to take in the scene in front of her. "Okay…" She said, trying to keep her jaw from dropping. Instead of filling her glass this time, she took the entire bottle of bourbon that was on the bar and took a swig straight from it. "So, what room can I take?"

"None, you have your freedom. Get the hell out of here." Damon growled.

Elena placed a gentle hand on his chest, but addressed Katherine. "You can stay for ONE night and then you leave in the morning. We are too tired to deal with you tonight. After everything you've done, don't expect us to offer you any more kindness than that."

Katherine was about to give a cocky retort but everyone in the room was distracted by the door slamming open and a few extra people pouring in.

She was stunned as Jeremy rushed at her and put his big arms around her. "Oh my God, you're alright." He gasped into her hair.

"Ew, get off!" She said, pushing him away as best she could. "You're sister is over there, you're wrinkling my clothes." Katherine complained. Jeremy nearly pushed her into the bar as he spun around to see his real sister next to Damon, still in the other body. He redirected himself to her and threw his arms around her, pulling her close, nearly covering her completely from view as he was so much larger than her.

"MY clothes Katherine." Damon said angrily.

"We rushed over as soon as we got your text. Is he already gone?" Bonnie asked, putting one hand on Elena's shoulder.

"I thought I told you to text her NOT to come." Damon said, looking heavenward for some help.

"I did!" Elena turned to address Bonnie. "I told you to stay away until we texted you! Why are you even here right now?"

"You think I was going to let Kai do anything to you guys? Are you insane?" Bonnie asked, her eyes wide.

"No, but he is and it could have been dangerous for you to be here." Elena responded, taking a deep breath.

Caroline laughed from across the room, taking a seat back on the couch with Hope cradled in her arms. "Yeah, it could have been dangerous. He would have attacked you with kisses." She puckered her lips and made a few smooching sounds.

Bonnie crinkled her brow in confusion at Caroline's gesture. "What?" She asked, looking over to Damon for an answer.

He shook his head. "He apparently has some weird crush on you. " He sighed, and slung his arm around Elena's shoulders. "We can figure this all out in the morning. I'm sure everyone is exhausted...and since we have a bit of a reprieve from whatever these Heretics want, I suggest everyone rest now." Now that it was just them in the house, and no other intruders (not counting Katherine of course) he felt as if he would be able to relax. He could deal with everything else in the morning, just not right now.

Everyone tiredly nodded in agreement and as he started to guide Elena from the room, he noticed Stefan and Klaus working together to pick up the still sleeping humans, hopefully to deposit them in one of the rooms upstairs. He was too tired now, but he would have to remember to tease both Stefan and Klaus that they were so agreeable toward each other when they were fighting over the same girl. Though it seemed as though Caroline had made her final decision and Stefan wasn't too hurt about the situation, so maybe he should just keep quiet about it.

He'd see how he felt in the morning. If one of them pissed him off, he was sure he would be able to come up with some one-liners to make them all squirm.

He laughed to himself and stopped short as Lily zipped in front of him, a shy smile on her face. "I think this belongs to you." She said, holding out the tiny vial in her hand.

Elena slipped out from beneath his arm and pulled Lily into her arms. "Thank you so much for your quick thinking." Elena said, giving her a squeeze. She pulled away and Lily was surprised to see tears gathering in the girl's eyes. "You've truly given us a chance to be together the way we've always wanted to be."

Before Lily could start to cry, she placed the vial into Elena's hands and clasped them tightly in her own. "It was my pleasure. I had to make this right somehow." She glanced over at her son. "I had to do right by you for once in your life."

The corner of Damon's mouth lifted up into a small smile and he leaned forward to give Lily a half hug. "Thank you Mother." He whispered in her ear, leaving a small kiss on her cheek before pulling away.

He was still upset at her for forcing the cure on him, but them having successfully gotten the other cure for Elena, without having to go to the prison world was a definite plus in his book.

Damon yawned, putting his arm back around Elena. He momentarily thought to check on everyone else, but decided at the last minute that he just didn't care. He wanted to be alone, alone with his wife to be. A quick glance down at her and he knew she wanted the same thing. So without another word, he tugged her along with him, trudging up the stairs and to his bedroom without a word to each other.

He pushed the door open with his elbow and closed it again behind them with his foot, not caring for the smudge that he knew would be left there from his boot. He'd clean it tomorrow. Using his arm, he guided Elena around to the front of him and rest his head against hers. She let out a sigh of contentment.

"I'm sorry again," He said softly, bringing up his finger to stroke the softness of her cheek. "That I had any doubt-"

"Damon, I already said it was okay. It was completely understandable. This whole situation has been far too unbelievable." She danced up on her tippy toes to press a soft kiss on his lips. "I would have done the same in your position. We're just so lucky that she didn't continue with the charate. Maybe she's changed." She suggested.

Damon barked out a laugh. "Please, the day Katherine turns over a new leaf, Hell itself will freeze over."

Laughing, Elena pulled away and started to tug the blood stained scrubs over her head.

Seeing that she was having a difficult time of it, since the tape was still wrapped around her neck, though loose, Damon reached forward and helped her the best he could with his one hand. Once it was safely off, along with the duct tape, he threw it over into the corner and watched her shimmy out of the light blue pants until she was standing naked in front of him.

She took a deep breath and stared up at him, her head tilted slightly to the left. "Why, Damon Salvatore, I do declare, that you are wearing far too many clothes." She said, a mouth lifting into a teasing smile.

He put his good hand to his heart. "Why, I do think you may be right, future Elena Salvatore. Perhaps you would be able to help me with that?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Though, the cast might cause a problem in the shower. I've been told I can't get it wet." He frowned, realizing that this might not be nearly as fun as he'd imagined when he'd been thinking of them together in the car earlier.

Elena leaned forward and started to unbutton his shirt. "So we'll take a bath and you can lean your hand out. I'll take care of you."

He glanced over toward his wardrobe, slightly distracted, remembering what Katherine said about throwing Elena's body in there. "Speaking of taking care of each other-"

She reached up and placed her finger over his lips. "Don't worry about…. The whole closet situation. Let me take care of you for tonight, please. We'll get washed up and then get some rest. I am not comfortable doing anything like we normally do in this body. I'm sorry." A small blush grew over her cheeks. "It wouldn't feel right if I wasn't truly me. But… we'll figure out everything in the morning. Okay?"

Damon leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "Of course. Whatever you want. As long as you're with me, I don't care." He brushed her blonde hair back out of her face, behind her ear. "There's no need to apologize to me."

Smiling sweetly up at him she reached down and started to pull him forward by one of the loops of his jeans. "Well Sir, I suppose it's time that I draw us a bath."

Damon grinned, happy for the first time in days.

It felt like he could finally breathe.

* * *

**So, I'm most likely NOT going to get to finish this before the season finale. Which makes me kind of sad. I forgot the whole "When I work from NY, I work until 7pm" thing. Plus the heavy schedule of seeing everyone I know within a small amount of time it gets a little crazy. I'm going to attempt to at least get one more chapter out before then, but I'm not promising anything. **

**I'm a little upset that they brought back Katherine before I did! This was always the plan for me, so I guess it's kind of funny. In the last chapter (that I posted months ago) that's why Kai was so surprised to see "The Blonde" because he knew that there was an "Elena" waiting upstairs for Damon to come home. **

**Anyway. I really hope Friday is everything we all want it to be. I have my fingers crossed. And I'm really hoping that Caroline is sent over to The Originals. If I'm right, and Damon becomes human, then Caroline will be the ONLY vampire left.. and what kind of sad existence is that. Plus Klaus and Hope could really help with those witch babies! (And personally, his line to her about "intending to be her last"... I don't really think Klaus makes those statements frivolously. So i think it was very important) Eh! But what do I know. **

**I hope you liked this chapter. I feel like it's been so lacking for the last few chapters because I haven't watched almost all year. **

**Throw me a review, come like my page... say hello! Let me know what your thoughts are on this season. I've only watched a little of it, but I'm excited to buy the season and then watch everything over again. **


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